Lake Okeechobee Water Releases and Impacts on the Everglades Ecosystem

(Photo caption: Lake Okeechobee) 

It's been said that during Florida's first 100 years of history, people were determined to take water out of the state and that the next few hundred years will be highlighted by man's attempt to put water back into the Florida.

Perhaps nowhere else is this "take-and-give" relationship that involves water, man and development more evident than within the Everglades ecosystem.

"We've got a plumbing problem that is degrading the ecosystem and the best opportunity to solve this water management issue is to acquire U.S. Sugar Corp. land to store and treat water and alleviate the stress on the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers," said Tom Van Lent, senior scientist, Everglades Foundation.

To create arable land in Central and South Florida, sensitive wetlands were drained and ditched. Water was channeled away to provide homesteaders with property that was good for raising everything from cattle to row crops.

Part of Florida's legacy of water management involves the dispersal of water from Lake Okeechobee in order to protect land as well as human health and safety.

Lake Okeechobee sits just above the Everglades Agricultural Area and the earthen dike that prevents the Lake from flooding farmland is vulnerable to damage from high Lake water levels.

The Sun-Sentinel newspaper recently reported that 2010 will go down in history as one of the wettest dry seasons since 1932, and that soggy South Florida heads into hurricane season more susceptible than in recent years to storm flooding. 



During the November-to-May dry season, when water levels in lakes and canals usually recede, South Florida saw water levels go up after averaging about 25 inches of rain.

That was six inches above normal and in the top 10 percent of dry season rainfall totals during the past 78 years since the regional records have been kept, according to the South Florida Water Management District.

The influx of water has prompted the water management district to dump more stormwater out to sea, trying to get drainage canals ready for summer rains.

Flooding concerns also have the Army Corps of Engineers dumping water out of Lake Okeechobee, despite the damaging environmental effects to coastal estuaries and wasting water that backs up South Florida supplies.

According to District officials, South Florida typically gets about three feet of rain during the storm season, with one foot of that usually coming between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

Water releases from Lake Okeechobee are expected to continue into the summer to address flooding concerns. The Army Corps tries to keep the lake between 12.5 and 15.5 feet.

Much of South Florida's neighborhoods and farmland sit on what used to be the Everglades. The region relies on an aging system of canals, pumps and levees to protect residents and property from flooding after even a typical South Florida summer shower.

During a typical rainy day, South Florida drainage canals flush about 1.7 billion gallons of water out to sea.

"You don't really need to look any further to justify the need to acquire necessary land for water storage to help the Everglades ecosystem utilize this precious resource correctly," added Van Lent. "It's startling to place a price tag on the sheer volume of the billions of gallons of water that are wasted by being pushed out to sea as well as pollution of the estuaries."

For more information on the regulation of Lake Okeechobee water releases, click here.