Your Voice is Needed to Stop the Lake Okeechobee Discharges
Take Action! Send a letter.
Send a preformatted email addressed to our representatives in Washington.
Senator Marco Rubio
c/o Elaine Sarlo
Sarlo, Elaine (Rubio) https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact
Senator Bill Nelson
c/o Elizabeth King
King, Elizabeth (Bill Nelson) Elizabeth_King@billnelson.senate.gov
Congressman Francis Rooney
c/o Dana Goulet
Goulet, Dana (Francis Rooney) Dana.goulet@mail.house.gov
Demand that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintain flows to the Caloosahatchee at or below 3,000 cubic feet per second at the W.P. Franklin Lock for the remainder of the wet season.
The discharges from Lake Okeechobee are contributing to unprecedented algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee and impacts to marine life.
Enough is enough!
Tell the Army Corps that our community cannot tolerate any additional freshwater from Lake Okeechobee at this time.
My community is being devastated by the ongoing freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee and runoff from the Caloosahatchee watershed.
We need your help to direct the U.S. Army Corps to maintain flows to the Caloosahatchee at or below 3,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) measured at the W.P. Franklin Lock (S-79) for the remainder of the wet season. The Lake discharges are compounding the impacts of watershed runoff from the Caloosahatchee. Additional freshwater from the Lake will only expand the area suitable for blue-green algae growth and continue to fuel algae blooms that are plaguing our community.
Lake Okeechobee water levels continue to rise despite “emergency measures” being implemented to address the high-water conditions in the Lake. The reason this is occurring is because there is not enough water being stored north of the Lake or being sent south. Please direct the Corps to explore a temporary deviation from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes regulation schedules to slow down the rate of inflow to the Lake from the north. The Corps must utilize the full extent of their operational flexibility to move additional water south by overcoming operational constraints that do not directly impact human health and safety. These events are diminishing our standing as a world-renowned tourism destination — directly impacting our local economy, island businesses, property values, and our quality of life.
The health of our estuary and local economy depends on your actions! Please direct the U.S. Army Corps to implement the emergency measures necessary to provide relief to our community.
