2024-04-16 VI. D. Exhibit 7, 1st Quarter LOP UpdatenniW;bit7FILE
MIMACVICARCONSULTING,INC. 04/16/2024
SOUTI-I FLORIDA WATER RESOURCE SPECIALISTS 147. b
Lake Okeechobee Projects January to March 2024
Lake Okeechobee Operations — Corps allows lake to rise through an above average wet season
The lake stage continued to rise through the beginning of this year due to almost weekly El Nino
rainfall events and the Corps decision to maintain a release target of 2,000 cfs to the
Caloosahatchee while LORS release guidance was more than double that volume. During this
time the Corps was "banking" the balance to deliver later in the dry season. Many stakeholders
objected to holding water in the lake fearing that high releases during the critically
environmental spring season were inevitable. The current volume of "banked" water is just Linder
2 feet on the lake and the majority will likely not be used.
The Corps finally began releases in February when the lake was well within LORS08
Intermediate sub -band. The Corps has just completed three rounds of 14 -day pulse releases
averaging 4,000 and 1,800 cfs to the Caloosahatchee and St Lucie estuaries, respectively, which
brought the lake down from 16.38 to 15.20 feet. Releases will continue at a reduced rate after a
two week rest period of zero lake releases to the estuaries.
Lake Stage for the last several months with the current LORS08 schedule and future LOSOM
schedule are shown on the next page.
LOSOM — Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual
High lake stages will be more common with LOSOM. The LOSOM plan was final over a year
ago, but at the last minute the National Marine Fisheries Service filed a formal objection with
the Corps alleging that the combination of Lake releases and red tide was a threat to sea turtles
along the coast. After months of unsuccessful negotiations, the Jacksonville District has
announced that LOSOM will be final in July with the inclusion of minor water quality and
discharge monitoring and reporting to NMFS. The Corps has stated that nothing in the
proposed Water Control Plan for LOSOM will change from the final draft released last
summer.
The Water Control Plan presents a schedule that is markedly different from the one
recommended by the three-year public process and analyzed in the EIS. The Water Control
Plan Schedule gives the Corps the flexibility to select a release volume every week based on
conditions at the time when the lake is in Zone D. Water supply interests strongly oppose this
plan. The public may get a chance to comment on the final EIS when it is released later this
year but the Corps will not be making any changes to the plan.
CERP
The District has finalized a Section 203 study for above ground storage north of the lake. The
recommended plan is for 200,000 acre feet of storage in a single reservoir located southeast of
Lake Istokpoga on the C -41A canal. The Corps also completed an EIS concurrent with the
Districts 203 study. Both have been delivered to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for
inclusion in this year's Water Resource Development Act (WRDA 2024.)
The Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration Project has been severely downsized to remove
the 55 watershed ASR wells. Currently the Corps research center in Vicksburg (ERDC) is
conducting ASR research that mirrors the District's own research in order to alleviate these
concerns. In the meantime, the Corps has reduced the project to only include some wetland
restoration along the Kissimmee River.
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MacVicar Consulting, Inc.
Quarterly Report
January to March 2024
Lake Okeechobee Stage and the Current Schedule (LORS08)
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Lake Okeechobee Stage and the preferred alternative in LOSOM. The Water Control Plan
removes all the subzones in Zone D and converts it to one large Zone with flexibility for the
Corps to choose releases from 0 to 2.000 cfs to the Caloosahatchee and no flow to the St Lucie.