Palm Beach Post, August 2024
It's a new era for Lake Okeechobee as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week adopted a new management plan for the heart of the Everglades.
Called the Lake Okeechobee System Operation Manual, or LOSOM, the new guidelines will allow the Army Corps to store more water in the big lake before needing to release it to the Caloosahatchee River.
“Our nation made a $1.8 billion investment in the rehabilitation of Herbert Hoover Dike to allow development of a new operating manual that balances the needs of the entire system," said Army Corps Col. Brandon Bowman, who took over the Jacksonville district last month. “LOSOM was developed over five years in collaboration with more than 50 stakeholder groups, and the value of that time investment, the cooperation it took to develop the plan, and the trust that was built with stakeholders matches that significant monetary investment.”
The environmental community largely praised the move.
"LOSOM will provide the Corps with the flexibility required to address water needs and capitalize on opportunities to send water south," said Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation. "This plan will significantly reduce harmful discharges of polluted lake water to our east and west coasts and increase water flow south to the Everglades and Florida Bay, particularly in the dry season."
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