By Tyler Treadway
October 27, 2016
TC Palm
Tyler Treadway of TC Palm lays out why the Army Corps could stop discharges from Lake Okeechobee:
Could today be the day the discharges stop?
This afternoon the Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to announce plans for Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie River for the coming week.
Conditions seem right for corps officials to stop the discharges, which since Jan. 30 have dumped more than 211 billion gallons of contaminated water into the river and the Indian River Lagoon, causing environmental damage to the estuary and economic damage to water-related businesses.
For instance:
- Lake O has dropped within 2 inches of the corps’ maximum preferred height.
Thursday morning the lake elevation was 15 feet, 7 1/4 inches. The corps tries to keep the lake between 12 feet, 6 inches at the start of the summer rainy season and 15 feet, 6 inches at the end of the rainy season.
- The summer rainy season is over.
The rainy season officially ended Oct. 8, said Will Ulrich, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
Continue reading here:
http://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/health/2016/10/27/army-corps-of-engineers-lake-okeechobee-discharges-st-lucie-river/92787146/