SFWMD Working with Army Corps to Avoid Harmful Releases from Lake Okeechobee to Estuaries After Dorian

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Executive Director Drew Bartlett and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District Commander Col. Andrew Kelly held a joint press conference today detailing the cooperative efforts the two agencies are undertaking to reduce the need for harmful lake releases and to move water south of Lake Okeechobee.

Kelly said that because of the work SFWMD is doing and because of dry rainfall projections for the next week, USACE does not plan to make any releases from the lake to the coastal estuaries this week and will continue to monitor lake levels.

Bartlett said SFWMD is moving the maximum amount of water possible, south out of Lake Okeechobee to storage areas to help avoid the need for damaging discharges from the lake to coastal estuaries. SFWMD is also working to hold water in Lake Kissimmee and Lake Istokpoga to control the flow of water into the lake from the north.

The press conference was broadcast on Facebook Live and can be viewed on SFWMD’s Facebook page. A high-quality version of the press conference is also available HERE.