August 16, 2007

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

701 San Marco Boulevard
Jacksonville, FL 32207-8175

Re: The Lake Okeechobee Release Schedule Study (LORSS) Tentatively

Selected Plan (T3)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Southwest Florida Watershed Council I would like to thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the new Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP) for the Lake Okeechobee Water Release Schedule (WSE).

We feel that the new TSP (T3) gives the Corps the flexibility that they need to more effectively manage the lake and reduce the harmful peak discharges of nutrient-laden, highly colored freshwater to the Caloosahatchee and the estuary. These discharges damaged seagrass beds, oyster reefs, crustaceans and fish populations and contributed to eutrophic conditions within San Carlos Bay. These outcomes have been repeated continually over the “period of record” and indicate fundamental flaws in the Lake Okeechobee Regualtion Schedule.

The Southwest Florida Watershed Council is a multi-county coalition of individuals, organizations, agencies, and businesses that have come together to address issues affecting the Caloosahatchee and Big Cypress watersheds. The purpose of the Watershed Council is to ensure that the interests and concerns of all stakeholders are addressed, and that long term management strategies balance the needs of this region’s growth and the natural systems upon which our economy and quality of life depend. One of the chief concerns of our membership is the current condition of the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary. Increased development and land use changes within the basin combined with ill-advised, but often necessary, water management practices have degraded the Caloosahatchee so that it has been listed as the seventh “most endangered” river in the United States by American Rivers.

Upon reviewing the current Lake Okeechobee Release Schedule Study (LORSS) TSP (T3) we submit the following comments for your consideration.

Some of the key changes to the revised TSP that we feel will improve conditions in the river and estuary include:

• The incorporation of measuring flow at S-79 rather than S-77 will allow water managers to more accurately regulate harmful discharges to the estuary by taking into account basin flow and adjusting lake discharges to maintain flows below the biologically based maximum flows of 2,800 cubic feet per second (cfs).
• Reducing the number of times that the model predicts flows exceeding 2,800 cfs at S-79 throughout the 36-year period of record.
• Maintaining the lake at lower levels reducing the need for emergency releases to the estuaries.
• Reducing high water discharges from 4,500 cfs to 4,000 cfs.
• Incorporation of additional storage on state owned lands specified in the Lake Okeechobee Operational Guidance document.

Some of the areas that need improvement include:

• Improving environmental water releases to the estuary to meet the Minimum Flows and Levels (MFL) to protect aquatic habitat in the upper estuary.
• Using the flexibility built into the plan to properly manage water deliveries to the estuary when they are needed and reduce the number of damaging releases until additional storage is incorporated into the system.
• Eliminate the practice of “backpumping” into Lake Okeechobee, while the lake is rising.
• Nutrient laden water backpumped from the EAA into the lake contributes to the Caloosahatchee’s nutrient problems.
• In addition, allowing water to be pumped off sugar fields along the C-139 to flow unregulated through the lock by gravity back into the lake at low lake stages should also be eliminated. This practice, although by SFWMD’s definition is not considered backpumping, should be eliminated to reduce pollutant loading to the river and estuary.
• Stop the practice of eliminating flow from C-78 and emptying the east Caloosahatchee into Lake Okeechobee when the river is at a higher stage than the lake. Removal of fresh water from the system during the dry season allows saltwater to move upstream impacting habitat in the upper estuary and threatening water supply at the Olga water treatment plant.
• The revised draft SEIS does not adequately address impacts to endangered and threatened species including the West Indian Manatees and Smalltooth Sawfish and does not include analysis of adverse impacts of the alternatives on these species.
• We understand that this version of the lake regulation schedule is temporary and that by 2010 the above issues will be adequately addressed.

We realize that the TSP (T3) is a compromise and is not perfect; however it is a substantial improvement from the previous TSP and the existing release schedule. We would like to thank you for incorporating stakeholders comments into the revised plan and feel that the Corps and the South Florida Water Management District now have the flexibility that they need to properly manage the lake and avoid further damaging the Caloosahatchee and its estuary.

Sincerely,

John Cassani, Chairman

Southwest Florida Watershed Council