Water from Lake Okeechobee Discharges

Significant Portion of Water from Lake Okeechobee Discharges Has Been Sent South in 2016

During the ongoing media coverage of the blue-green algae blooms and Lake Okeechobee releases, some individuals have been calling for additional land to be purchased to “send the water south.” According to data made available by the South Florida Water Management District, a significant portion of the water that has entered into Lake Okeechobee already has been sent south (40 percent), illustrating that there is water flowing south when the Everglades system has the capacity to accept additional water flow. Simply buying more farm land does NOT equate to more water flowing into the Everglades nor would it significantly reduce the discharges to the estuaries during historic wet events like 2013 and 2016.

Additionally, the data shows the communities south of Lake Okeechobee have been responsible for only 4 percent of all total inflows into the lake since January.

Here are the facts about the water that has been discharged from Lake Okeechobee in Water Year 2016:

• From April 2015 through May 2016, 96 percent of inflows to Lake Okeechobee are from the northern basin (Kissimmee River and eastern/western sources) while only 4 percent are from the south;
• From April 2015 through May 2016, 42 percent was discharged to the Caloosahatchee River, 18 percent was discharged from the lake to the St. Lucie River, and 40 percent was discharged south of Lake Okeechobee; and
• Of the water entering the Everglades Water Conservation Areas, 70 percent was from rainfall, 15 percent from the Everglades Agricultural Area, 3 percent from Lake Okeechobee, and 12 percent from other basins.
• According to the South Florida Water Management District, 90 percent of the water in the Everglades is meeting highly stringent federal water quality standards of 10 parts per billion. For more than 20 years, Everglades Agricultural Area sugarcane and vegetable farmers have more than doubled the state’s phosphorus reduction requirements, averaging 56 percent reductions annually (state law requires a 25 percent reduction in phosphorus off the farms).

Additionally, data also shows that a significant portion of runoff into the estuaries in 2016 is originating from the local basins. Here is an overview of the runoff from each basin:

Estuary Flows

Source: South Florida Water Management District data sets

2016 Discharges (.pdf)