Lake Okeechobee’s low level is good for the lake’s ecology but could draw concerns about water supply in the coming year.
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OKEECHOBEE – Lake Okeechobee’s low level is good for the lake’s ecology but could draw concerns about water supply in the coming year. Freshwater flow to the Caloosahatchee River is of particular issue.
Lake Okeechobee could drop to around 10 feet before the 2026 wet season according to information shared at the Dec. 5 meeting of the County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries and the Lake Worth Lagoon.
Paul Gray of Florida Audubon said the lake level was 13.6 feet on Friday. The lake drops an average of 3 feet in the dry season, with water leaving the Big O for urban, environmental and agricultural water supply and through evapotranspiration.
“Right now, I’m not worried about the lake getting too low,” he explained. The lower lake level during the summer allowed some of the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) to grow. The SAV needs lake levels below 12 feet for 90 days or below 11.5 feet for 60 days for sunlight to reach the lake bottom.
A second year of low water could get the lake’s SAV closer to where it should be, Gray said. SAV is the lake’s natural filter system. SAV also provides critical habitat for fish and wildlife.
Gray said he is concerned about the Caloosahatchee River. During the dry season, the river needs freshwater from the lake to keep the estuary from getting too saline. Under the current Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM), flow to the Caloosahatchee from Lake O is 350 cubic feet per second (cfs).
“The Caloosahatchee is getting flows that are so low it could cause multiple years of damage,” said Gray.
We just need to open the gate and get to 750 cfs,” he said.
Gray said water supply is not a problem now. All permitted water users are currently getting 100% of their allocations.
“By April, we will need to know if we are going to have to go to rationing,” said Gray.
Lee County Commissioner David Mulicka increased salinities could cause damage to oysters and sea grasses.
SFWMD Executive Director Drew Bartlett said 350 cfs is the flow level indicated for the Caloosahatchee in the Lake Okeechobee System Operations Manual (LOSOM) based on the current lake conditions. The minimum flow used in the old schedule – the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule of 2008 – was 467 cfs.
