Corps pushes ahead with lake release modifications, lawsuit still in play

Lawyers are still battling over a suit filed by environmental groups over the management of Lake Okeechobee, but a decision could come as soon as this summer. 

Several environmental groups filed a suit in the summer of 2019 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the wake of a toxic algae bloom that crippled the Fort Myers-Cape Coral areas for months. 

The groups wanted the Army Corps to release more water during the dry season as to not be forced to release water from Lake Okeechobee during the wet summer, when algae levels are typically their highest. They claimed management of Lake Okeechobee was detrimental to protected species like manatees and sea turtles. 

The environmental groups in the first lawsuit include the Center for Biological Diversity, Calusa Waterkeeper and the Waterkeeper Alliance. 

"I don’t understand how the agencies are getting away with it still," said Jacklyn Lopez, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "On the one hand they’re saying this is a big deal and we’re going to do something, but to the judge and internal they’re saying this really doesn’t impact these species." 

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Lopez said one crux in the lawsuit is whether or not the lake release schedule causes harm to protected species like sea turtles, manatees and smalltooth sawfish. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said in the past that lake management does not harm those species, but the agency will have to make a decision on that issue again before a judge makes any determination, Lopez said. 

While the Army Corps manages the lake, Endangered Species Act management and guidelines come from the Fish and Wildlife Service. 

A bloom formed on the lake in the early spring of 2018, and it soon crippled the coastal fishing, tourism and real estate industries. 

The environmental groups filed the suit. 

Hoping to avoid a repeat of that scenario, the Army Corps conducted the early releases in 2019, which helped ease some concerns in the environmental community but concerned some big agriculture operations around the lake. 

U.S. Sugar filed a lawsuit in August of 2019 over the Army Corps using what's called a "deviation" to allow the lake to drop more than it has in recent years. 

“It looks like the Corps went ‘all in’ and bet South Florida’s water supply with their deviation and wasteful discharges last year," said U.S. Sugar spokeswoman Judy Sanchez. "Lake Okeechobee has a regulation schedule that is supposed to balance all water needs in the region." 

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Since 2008 the Army Corps has used what's called the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, or LORS, to manage lake levels. 

Sanchez said managing the lake with deviations from the LORS process can be risky. 

"Now, we are praying for rain," Sanchez said. 

The agriculture giant said releasing water from the lake early can jeopardize supply to farmers and urbanized areas, many of which along the East Coast depend upon the lake for water. 

A federal judge earlier this year dismissed a lawsuit filed by U.S. Sugar against the Army Corps for allowing Lake Okeechobee levels to drop below 12.5 feet above sea level. 

There is very little water to release to the Caloosahatchee River because Lake Okeechobee surface levels are at 11.4 feet above sea level, according to the South Florida Water Management District. 

Florida is now in moderate drought, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, and releases to the Caloosahatchee River have been cut in recent weeks. 

The Caloosahatchee River was artificially connected to Lake Okeechobee in order to drain the Everglades for farming and development but now needs water from the lake during dry periods. 

LORS basically says the surface levels of the lake should be kept between 12.5 and 15.5 to provide water for utilities, agriculture and natural systems like the Caloosahatchee River and Florida Bay. 

After pressure from environmental groups last year, the Army Corps released water from Lake Okeechobee during the dry season last year to make room for the coming rains that fell last summer. 

A toxic blue-green algae bloom sprang up on the lake during the early summer of 2018, and by later that year the Caloosahatchee River and adjoining canals were choked with thick carpets of algae. 

More:'Driest spring we've seen in 50 or more years': Florida in moderate drought as dry season persists

High water levels in the system forced the Corps to conduct releases to both the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers, sending algae-laden waters to both coasts. 

The algae was literally several inches thick in some places and looked like pastel blue and green carpeting. 

A new management schedule for the lake is being developed at the same time. 

Called the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, or LOSOM, the schedule will dictate how releases from the lake are conducted in the future. 

It's is expected to be completed by December 2022. 

The Army Corps didn't comment on the lawsuit but said having more flexible operations in the future could help prevent harmful algae blooms like ones seen along the coasts in recent years. 

Chauncey Goss, chair of the South Florida Water Management District governing board, said he'd like to see the future schedule consider impacts to endangered species. 

"My hope and expectation is that it will take into account the overall health of our estuaries and flora and fauna that inhabit them," Goss said in an email. 

Connect with this reporter: @ChadGillisNP on Twitter.