The battle over Lake Okeechobee: Toxic algae, water supplies at forefront

South Florida water leaders are concerned about keeping faucets flowing as interests clashed last week over how high to keep Lake Okeechobee -- a key to Everglades restoration and water supply, but also a breeder of toxic algae.

A massive rewrite of lake management rules is the impetus for the ongoing skirmish, which played out in West Palm Beach during a meeting of a 175-member committee working to develop the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, or LOSOM.

While Treasure Coast residents and some Lake Worth Lagoon advocates want a lower lake to avoid summer discharges that can trigger blue-green algae blooms, others want a higher lake to ensure spigots don't go dry during a drought.

Representatives from Palm Beach County and the Southeast Florida Utility Council want the Army Corps of Engineers to honor a two decade-old promise that guaranteed no changes in water supply to existing users. The agreement was vital in getting the sweeping Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan passed in 2000.

The Corps is responsible for managing lake levels and is overseeing a rewrite of the manual, which is expected to launch in the fall of 2022.

Tommy Strowd, executive director of the Lake Worth Drainage District, said he was surprised the Corps was not discussing the accord, called the "savings clause," during debate over water levels.

"The clause was intended to give people a comfort level that while we restored the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee ecosystems we didn't wind up taking water away from someone to do it," said Strowd, who is a member of the committee.

Because the new operating manual considers two Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Projects -- reservoirs east and west of Lake Okeechobee -- Strowd argues the clause should be considered when rewriting the manual.

"The concern is we would end up bringing the lake down to avoid impacts of harmful algae blooms to the estuaries, but in dry years we would wind up with a significant shortfall of waters," Strowd said.

Saltwater intrusion, water restrictions and a lack of drinking water for West Palm Beach and Palm Beach could be problems during drought if there isn't enough backup from Lake Okeechobee.

West Palm Beach assistant city administrator Scott Kelly, who is representing the city on the committee, said he wants the Corps and the South Florida Water Management District to reevaluate the savings clause because he believes leaving it out of the discussion is a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Jeremy McBryan, Palm Beach County's water resources manager, said the Corps' direction "alarms some of the local governments." McBryan believes the water management district governing board should decide if the clause is part of the discussion.

"The next step is to go to the South Florida Water Management District," said Ed Delaparte, an attorney for the Southeast Florida Utility Council. "It's pretty clear in state law it has an obligation to protect Florida water law."

The utility council represents South Florida water providers that serve six million people.

While Corps' officials said they will take water supply into account during the rewrite, it maintains that the savings clause plays no role.

"We know water supply is a major concern to stakeholders and will certainly work to incorporate water supply and improve water supply as an objective of the study," said Corps spokesman John Campbell.

It's not just municipal leaders concerned about losing lake water, Everglades restoration also relies on water from Lake Okeechobee, said Adam Gelber, Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior'sOffice of Everglades Restoration Initiatives.

Everglades National Park, which sits at the bottom of the flow from the lake, is suffering from a lack of water with areas to its north nearing drought levels.

"The park has not had water since the beginning of December and we're not expecting any water into Shark River Slough until maybe June at the earliest," Gelber said. "Keeping the sponge wetter longer during the dry season is really key to keeping waters flowing."

Lake Okeechobee stood at 12.84 feet as of Thursday -- a level that concerned Pete Kwiatkowski, the water management district's water supply bureau section administrator.

He said a water shortage benchmark is hit at 12 feet.

"We know it's the last day of January and the rainy season doesn't start until June, so it's not a lot of buffer," Kwiatkwoski said Friday.

The lake had risen to 12.91 feet as of Monday.

The Corps artificially lowered lake levels ahead of the 2019 rainy season to avoid summer discharges and allow fields of eel grass to regrow after suffering years of high water levels. This year the Corps has no plans to lower the lake, and that stokes fears that discharges could be necessary during summer months that could trigger a toxic algae bloom.

A level that is too high could mean discharges that cause toxic algae.

During the 2016 bloom, the St. Lucie Estuary suffered widespread growth of algae. The Lake Worth Lagoon had a lower dose, but it was enough to temporarily close Peanut Island.

"This summer, without discharges, the blooms didn't have a chance to spread," said Reinaldo Diaz, spokesman for the Lake Worth Waterkeeper advocacy group, who noted that there was a small algae bloom in the C-51 canal during the summer of 2019 from local basin runoff.

He fears what would have happened if Lake O discharges occurred on top of that.

"It would be an absolute disaster if that bloom were to spread to the Lake Worth Lagoon," Diaz said.

The next committee meeting is Feb. 27 online. For more information go to www.saj.usace.army.mil/Losom.

Kmiller@pbpost.com

@Kmillerweather

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