As Tropical Storm Elsa dumped rainfall on south Florida Monday and Tuesday, flow at the Franklin Lock on the Caloosahatchee River was all from local basin runoff.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website, no lake water was released at the Julian Keen Jr. Lock at Moore Haven  on Monday, while an average of 1,712 cubic feet per second (cfs) flowed through the Franklin Lock to the Caloosahatchee estuaries.

The current schedule calls for up to 1,000 cfs to be released through the Franklin Lock, and lake water can be used to reach that target. However, if local basin runoff meets or exceeds the 1,000 cfs level, no lake water is released to the Caloosahatchee River.

For the seven day period ending July 5, the average flow from the lake at Moore Haven was just was 199 cfs.

On the east side of the lake, water continues to backflow into the lake from the St. Lucie Canal (aka the C-44 canal). For the seven day period ending July 5, flow into the lake from the St. Lucie  Canal averaged 322 cfs.

On July 6, Lake Okeechobee as at 12.95 feet above sea level  up slightly from 12.87 the previous day. Water is entering the lake at an average of 3,496 cfs and no water is flowing out of the lake. Direct rainfall south of the lake has left no capacity to send more water south.