Army Corps began new Lake O management plan 5 years ago. What is taking so long?
Don't look now, but an auspicious date quickly approaches. Five years ago this month, the Army Corps of Engineers began its process to design a "new" Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, LOSOM for short.
Will there be a sheet cake from Publix that reads "Happy Five Years of Unfinished Business: Anybody's Guess How Much Longer?" Will the Corps send out invitations to its party? If you're going, bring wood. I hear it's the traditional fifth year anniversary gift.
Clean water advocates were told at a Jan. 18 meeting of the Rivers Coalition in Stuart that LOSOM should be finalized "sometime this year." Why is this process taking so long? And when can we expect LOSOM to finally be put fully into use?
What are Lake Okeechobee discharges? Risks include water pollution and toxic algae blooms
What is the Army Corps' timeline with LOSOM?
This is the LOSOM development timeline that those affected by Lake Okeechobee discharges have been living through, according to TCPalm reporting by Tyler Treadway, Max Chesnes, Katie Delk, Cheryl Smith and Ed Killer. Read lower in the column why LOSOM needs to be stamped for approval as soon as possible.
February 2019: Army Corps hosts seven public meetings in South Florida to describe what LOSOM is and why it will replace the Lake Okeechobee Regulation System 2008, commonly called LORS08.
September 2019: Army Corps holds second series of meetings to discuss LOSOM further. Thinks it may be implemented "possibly" in 2022.
December 2019-March 2020: Global pandemic COVID-19 begins sweeping around the world, causing confusion with agencies on how to work and what work to complete. Delays LOSOM for an indefinite amount of time.
2020-21: Army Corps developed computer models, worked on finishing Herbert Hoover Dike construction.
July 2021: Army Corps began another series of meetings to discuss LOSOM models. Corps estimates completion by end of 2022. Change of command between outgoing Jacksonville district commander Col. Andrew Kelly and incoming commander Col. James Booth.
November 2021: Corps adjusted LOSOM; estimates environmental impact statement to be done by October 2022; final approval of LOSOM in early 2023.
August 2022: Corps releases 215-page environmental impact statement. Begins accepting public comment.
January 2023: Ribbon-cutting for construction completion of Herbert Hoover Dike rehabilitation. Col. James Booth tells TCPalm's Ed Killer "LOSOM will be finalized by June."
April 2023: U.S. Rep. Brian Mast angered when he learns the Corps has requested a biological opinion on endangered species from NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service and LOSOM's affect delaying process further. NOAA NMFS says opinion will be finished by August 2023. Corps maintains LOSOM should be finalized by December 2023.
Jan. 18: "LOSOM should be done sometime this year (2024)," Maj. Corey Bell told Rivers Coalition member.
July 2024: Col. James Booth will retire after change of command at Jacksonville district. District will be led by a new colonel, the third since the LOSOM process began.
Why should LOSOM be implemented as soon as possible?
We had a LOSOM preview during the 2023 hurricane season. Essentially, the Corps operated Lake Okeechobee, the Kissimmee River and the Everglades using LOSOM. Under LORS08, once the level of Lake O reached 16 feet — as it did on Oct. 5 — it would have triggered damaging discharges for months. Col. Booth, however, did not panic and held steady throughout the hurricane season.
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But this January, El Niño rainfall has dominated the South Florida weather scene. Rainfall is more than double that of a typical January. Lake O has risen to 16 feet, 2 inches. More, farmers who draw irrigation water from the lake have yet to do so because rainfall is providing what they need.
The coming dry season should see that lake level dip some by June. Will it go low enough when the rainy season begins to avoid summer discharges to the estuaries? Can the Army Corps hold off discharges one more year? Not if the lake level rises above 17 feet. Expect a summer of dirty water.
By the way, my review of the NOAA-NMFS biological opinion is that LOSOM will be better for the endangered species in the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie. So why the holdup? Sign LOSOM. Let's go.
Where do we stand with Lake Okeechobee?
To recap, here are my Lake Okeechobee concerns as we begin 2024:
Lake O is too high. Once it gets above 17 feet, Army Corps will have to discharge water. They have no mechanism to put the water elsewhere.
LOSOM is not yet completely in effect. As long as the Corps has the option to legally revert to LORS08, I'm not sure we can trust them to avoid discharges.
South Florida Water Management District has an open seat on its governing board. I've been beating this drum since June. The governing board has eight members instead of nine. Someone needs to tell Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint a LOCAL to represent us on the SFWMD board.
I get that Rome wasn't built in a day. However, at the pace we're moving on the full adoption of LOSOM, we could have built Rome, Athens and Paris since we began designing LOSOM.
It's time for the Corps to, as a former boss used to say, "dance with the date you brung" — adopt LOSOM and start moving forward with Lake O management.
Ed Killer is an opinion columnist for TCPalm. This is his opinion. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Five long years: Lake O plan taking longer than anyone expected
