Just In:
Florida governor issues emergency order to fight algal blooms in South Florida
.....His order will allow agencies to waive various restrictions and regulations to store water in additional areas south of Lake Okeechobee. ...
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)
Using this emergency declaration, DEP will work with the SFWMD to identify additional storage north and south of Lake Okeechobee, including the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to decrease water inflows and help to reduce water levels in the Lake. These actions include:
Using the S-5A Pump Station in Palm Beach County to move 400 cubic feet per second (cfs) out of the L-8 Canal to prevent water from flowing back into Lake Okeechobee.
Moving water to tide through every available structure, including the Hillsboro, North New River and Miami canals.
Using the S-34 Structure to move 200 cfs out of Water Conservation Area 2A into the North New River in Broward County.
Fully utilizing the A-1 Flow Equalization Basin and L-8 Flow Equalization Basin, both components of Gov. Scott’s Restoration Strategies Plan, to store water.
Storing water on public lands through the Dispersed Water Management program.
Working with private landowners to store water on their properties.
rainfall:
rainfall since the record May has been about average with periods of above and below amounts..its the wet season so average means wet
The upper Kissimmee region was hurt hard the other day wth alot of rain sending the lakes ell above average....not sure how much water they can hold back up there
it takes about 10 days for water drain into the Lake from that region...
the past two days have been very dry with yesterday no rainfall and today below average
as luck would have it there an area of thunderstorms over the lake at this time dumping heavy rain...so much above rainfall then lake today but not the overall watershed
the outlook for the next 10 days is for about average rain overall with some days wetter then others