WEST PALM BEACH – Lake Okeechobee is in trouble, stakeholders told the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board at their Dec. 14 meeting at SFWMD Headquarters in West Palm Beach.

The governing board and staff did not disagree, but did not offer any help for reducing high water levels in the Big O.

On Dec. 14, Lake Okeechobee was at 15.84 feet above sea level.

Lake Okeechobee has been out of the ecological envelope since April, said SFWMD Director of Water Resources Lawrence Glenn.

Lake Okeechobee needs seasonal lows for sunlight to reach the lake bottom to cause new submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) to grow. Once new SAV has sprouted, it is also important that the lake does not rise faster than the plants can grow. The SAV is the lake’s natural filter system. It also provides habitat for fish and wildlife.

According to RECOVER, the lake’s normal ecological envelope ranges from 12 feet at the end of the dry season to 15 feet at the end of the wet season. The lake’s recovery envelope uses a low of 11.5 to 12.5 and a high of 14.5 to 15.5.

RECOVER (REstoration COordination & VERification) is a multi-agency team of scientists, modelers, planners and resource specialists who organize and apply scientific and technical information in ways that are essential in supporting the objectives of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

The lowest lake level for 2023 was 13.7 feet.

“There is a real concern about the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV),” said Glenn.  SFWMD scientists estimate there is currently 2,500 acres of SAV on the lake.

“Nobody can say that I haven’t been screaming for projects north of the lake for 50 years,” said Newton Cook of United Waterfowlers.

“We have a big problem here,” he continued. Cook said the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir south of the lake won’t be finished until 2032 and even when it is finished, it won’t help the big lake.

“This reservoir is in the wrong place, and it won’t work anyway,” said Cook.

“We have to take the water out of the lake and out it into the ocean without spending several billion dollars,” he said. Cook suggested installing 300 deep injection wells in the Kissimmee System to remove excess stormwater as needed. Deep injection wells send water 3,000 feet deep into the Boulder Zone. Water in the cavernous Boulder Zone moves very slowly to the ocean.

SFWMD is working on Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) wells north of the lake. ASR wells store water about 1,000 feet deep in a brackish aquifer. When the freshwater is pumped in, it remains in a bubble and can be later recovered for use in a drought. Water is cleaned to drinking water standards before being pumped into an ASR well.

Deep Injection Wells (DIW) do not require water to be cleaned first. These wells are currently used throughout the state to dispose of excess wastewater from sewage treatment plants. Deep Injection Wells can handle water at much higher volume than ASR wells.

Cook said if they had DIWs in the Kissimmee basin, they would only use them to prevent excess stormwater from damaging lake Okeechobee and the coastal estuaries. For example, after Hurricane Ian, more than 1 million acre-feet of stormwater was pumped into Lake Okeechobee to relieve flooding in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. The lake has not yet recovered.

Scott Martin, of Anglers for Lake Okeechobee, said SFWMD should develop projects in Lake Okeechobee.

“As much as I applaud all the projects water management continues to come up with around the lake, what about projects in the lake?” he asked.

“Lake Okeechobee is dying,” said Martin. “The water is too high. The SAV is at an all-time low.

“That should scare everyone to death that we have let Lake Okeechobee get to the condition it is in as far as SAV,” he added. “We don’t focus on any projects in Lake O to bring back the SAV that could filter billions of gallons of water for free.

“Let’s talk about how we’re going to get some of this water out so the grass can grow,” Martin said.

He said the governor has approved a billion in state funds for Everglades restoration and not a penny of that money has been earmarked for projects in Lake Okeechobee.

“Let’s focus on Lake Okeechobee. It needs it right now, not 5 years from now,” said Martin.

“Recovery depends on how low we can get the lake this summer and for how long,” said Glenn. With the lake starting the dry season above 16 feet and a wetter than normal dry season predicted, there is little hope to get the lake below 12.5 feet in the next year.

The Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM), which is scheduled to go into effect in 2024, includes a “recovery” phase for Lake O. In such a recovery, lowering the lake would be prioritized over concerns about damaging freshwater releases to the coastal estuaries.

Although the lake conditions currently check all the boxes to trigger a recovery period under the LOSOM, that will probably not happen in 2024, explained SFWMD Chief Engineer John Mitnik. He said they cannot implement a recovery phase during an El Nino year. The El Nino weather pattern brings heavier than normal rainfall during the dry season. He said they won’t allow flows that would damage the coastal estuaries if there is no chance of success of getting the lake low enough to make a difference.