After spending more than a month around 13.5 feet above sea level, recent heavy rainfall is causing the Lake Okeechobee level to rise.
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After spending more than a month around 13.5 feet above sea level, recent heavy rainfall is causing the Lake Okeechobee level to rise.
Lake Okeechobee’s water level was 13.97 feet above sea level on Aug. 15.
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) data for the seven-day period of Aug. 5-11, the Big O received inflow of 59,770 acre feet and surface inflows of 63,360 acre feet.
Outflow for that seven-day period was just 1,030 acre feet west to the Caloosahatchee River. The target flow for the Caloosahatchee River is 2,000 cubic feet per second, measured at the W.P. Franklin Lock which is more than 43 miles from the Julian Keen Jr. Lock where lake water enters the river. The estuary needs that beneficial freshwater flow to maintain optimal salinity levels. When local basin runoff meets or exceeds the 2,000 cfs beneficial flow target, no lake water is released.
Evapotranspiration – a combination of evaporation and plant transpiration – removed 38,330 acre feet of water in that seven-day period.
No lake water has been released east to the St. Lucie Canal this water year. (The water year started May 1.)
No lake water was released south Aug. 5-11. Due to heavy rainfall south of the lake, there is no capacity for the stormwater treatment areas (STAs) and water management areas (WCAs) to accept more flow.
