Progress With the Everglades Restoration Plan & Lake O’ Discharges
Bottom Line: Recently Governor DeSantis announced a huge step forward with the Everglades Restoration Plan with the groundbreaking of the new inflow pump station as part of the EAA Reservoir project which is aimed at permanently ending harmful east-west discharges out of Lake Okeechobee. Two of the southern reservoirs with the EAA project have been completed and the final key piece that will be central to sending effectively all water south into the Everglades, which is the natural flow.
The groundbreaking represented the first major development with the EAA Reservoir project following the decision made by the Trump administration earlier this year to allow the state of Florida to take a leading role in Everglades restoration projects. The result is that the reservoir system is expected to be completed in 2029 – five years earlier than previous projections. While there’s light at the end of the tunnel, the progress made to date in the effort to reduce discharges appears to have been effective in the interim.
Despite a controversial decision by the Army Corps of Engineers to ignore their operating manual, LOSOM, agreed to August of last year – in discharging water between December of last year through spring of this year, the most recent data available suggests east-west discharges have been approximately 59% lower than the at the same time a year ago. Also, current Lake levels, at about 13.6 feet most recently as we’re entering the dry season – is running well below the historical average of about 15 feet for this date.
While it’s unclear what the Army Corps will decide to do regarding potential discharges from here, there’s clearly not a need for additional discharges heading into dry season at current lake levels. After decades of battles for an end to the at times devasting Lake O’ discharges into Florida’s critically important estuaries, there’s reason for near term optimism and with a permanent solution on horizon.