Watershed management and lake operations for water quality improvement in Lake Okeechobee and surrounding waters

OVERVIEW

Lake Okeechobee is the 2nd largest “natural” freshwater lake completely within the US, and it is the pivot point of Florida’s most pressing environmental sustainability dilemma today. Nutrient-rich waters boost freshwater harmful algae blooms on Lake Okeechobee proper and its main distributaries (Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie Canal), causing serious environmental, health, and economic impacts that raise major concerns about the sustainability of this water system. Lake Okeechobee’s discharges are controlled through a series of structures around the Herbert Hoover Dike, which surrounds 143 miles of the lake, making it act like an artificial reservoir. Lake Okeechobee is operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).

By Matilde Bongio

By Matilde Bongio

Significance

We aim at reducing the overall contribution of Lake Okeechobee to regional water quality issues by making the most of available infrastructure in its watershed and surroundings.​




Current Objectives

  • Optimize the placement of nutrient treatment technologies in Okeechobee’s watershed

  • Understand the effects of watershed nutrient contributions on algae blooms

  • Evaluate impacts of future land use land cover change uncertainties in Lake Okeechobee Watershed on flow and nutrient loads to the Lake

  • Assess the role of Lake Okeechobee operations during extreme events (e.g., hurricanes) on algae blooms in the lake

Completed Objectives

  • Assessment of the effects of historical operations on water quality

  • Optimize lake operations to minimize nutrient exports to Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie Canal

Products and Publications

Peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management

Peer-reviewed article in the Environmental Modelling & Software Journal

Lake Operation Optimization of Nutrient Exports (LOONE): a water balance-nutrient dynamics-optimization free access model

Personnel

Thanh Duc Dang, Osama Tarabih, Sajad Hasani, Andres Lora, Daniela Vasquez

Funding

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through their program Approaches to Reduce Nutrient Loadings for Harmful Algal Blooms Management - EPA-G2020-STAR-A1

  • US Army Corps of Engineers ERCD