New Plan for Lake Okeechobee Targets Toxic Algae

The 730-square-mile Lake Okeechobee lies at the heart of the Florida Everglades. For decades, the watershed has been under threat, but an ambitious $21 billion federal and restoration effort seeks to change that, including a new management plan. Amy Green reports for Inside Climate News that a new plan, called the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, was implemented earlier this month, and with it, a significant change in approach. Tim Gysan, LOSOM project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told Green that, following a recent restoration of the 143-mile earthen dike around the lake, “the plan is designed to more equitably balance the needs of the watershed and stakeholders tied to it, rather than prioritizing flood control above all else.” 

One particular concern is toxic algae, which has been a problem for Lake Okeechobee over the last several years and, when water is discharged during times of high water, the surrounding estuaries. “The noxious blooms have choked rivers, sullied beaches, sickened Floridians and left wildlife belly-up,” Green reports. With the warm temperatures brought by climate change, that problem is only expected to get worse. “Now that a $1.8 billion rehabilitation of the dike is complete, the Army Corps will have more flexibility to hold more water in the lake, reducing the harmful discharges.”