Why is Lake Okeechobee Drained?

Why is Lake Okeechobee Drained?

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Do you know why is Lake Okeechobee drained?

Right from time, it is the nature of

Lake Okeechobee

to overflow towards the south, to the thirsty Everglades.

This was before farmlands, towns, and homesteads developed and obstructed its free flow.

Sand and muck were used by people in 1915 to build the first flood-protection barrier in the lake.

Between 1932 and 1938, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed a north- and south-shore levee due to the 1926 and 1928 hurricanes that killed 2,500 people.

Later on, the levees were expanded by the Army Corps of Engineers to what we know today as Herbert Hoover Dike, which dam that surrounds the lake as far back as the 1960s, and the earthen dam is 143 miles long.

This is how the problem started.

When

Lake Okeechobee

overflows, it will become a concern for the Army Corps.

The reason is that farms, towns, and homesteads in the

Everglades Agricultural Area will be flooded as water

is discharged towards the east to the St.

Lucie River and towards the west to the Caloosahatchee River through the C-44 and C-43 canals.

The expansion was made between 1916 and 1924.

By 1947 the design was that the Caloosahatchee and St.

Lucie rivers will the two safety valves of the system in case of overflooding.

The two rivers will receive the water from Lake Okeechobee and discharge the same to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Why is Lake Okeechobee drained?

Lake Okeechobee

fills up six times faster than the canals can drain and forces the authority to drain it.

Anytime the water level rises, there will be fear that the New Orleans-like failure will be replicated in the old 30-foot-tall limestone, sand, and shell barrier that protects South Florida from flooding.

Why is Lake Okeechobee Drained?

Why is Lake Okeechobee Drained?

This problem is artificial.

In the past,

lake water

naturally flowed southward anytime it overflowed its shores.

The drainage system in South Florida has allowed homes, schools, businesses, and many sugar cane farms to go into what was known as the Everglades.

The meaning of Lake Okeechobee in the Seminole Indian language is “big

water.” This is the name given to any body

of water you cannot see the opposite side of from where you stand.

The lake has a surface area of about 730 square miles, it is the largest lake in southeastern America is home to.

Although the lake is large, it is shallow.

Its average depth is 9 feet.

Greater

Everglades is a much bigger

watershed, and this is where Lake Okeechobee and its wetlands are located.

Greater Everglades

runs from the Kissimmee River

, crosses the Everglades, and ends at Florida Bay.

Lake Okeechobee is very necessary for the water supply and flood control systems of South Florida

.

Animal Activities

Many species of fish, wading birds, and other wildlife have

made Lake Okeechobee

their home, and it is an important source of water supply to people, farms, and the environment.

It protects the areas around it from flood and serves as a boating and recreation center for boaters and recreation enthusiasts from around the world.

It plays host to sport and commercial fisheries as well.

Excessive nutrients from agricultural and urban activities in its watershed, dangerously high and low water levels, and the spread of exotic vegetation threatened the lake’s health over the past decades.

This threat did not stop the lake from being the important source of freshwater it has always been to South Florida,  still retaining its natural and community values.

St.

Lucie Lock and Dam

Another name for the C-44 Canal is St.

Lucie Canal.

The canal is controlled by St.

Lucie Lock and Dam, which is at Martin County-owned Phipps Park.

The Phipps Park is owned by Martin County and located west of Kanner Highway, half a mile upstream, the crossing point of Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike with St.

Lucie River.

There are many reasons those floodgates open and close every time of the year.

It may be to release water from Lake Okeechobee or to release rainfall runoff that flew in from surrounding areas like western Martin County development and agricultural fields.

There are times both gates will be released at the same time.

The two floodgates are dangerous to coastal estuaries and watersports-dependent economies.

Lake Okeechobee discharges

When water is discharged from St.

Lucie River, it may

flow into the Indian River

Lagoon, out from the St.

Lucie Inlet, and into the Atlantic Ocean.

As it flows, it increases the water level of the beaches in Martin and St.

Lucie counties.

  • The water in

    Lake Okeechobee is freshwater

    , so when it flows into the brackish St.

    Lucie River, it kills the oysters and seagrass in it because they need a certain amount of salt water to live.

  • The rainfall runoff from the Orlando area laden with contaminants from development and agriculture

    polluted Lake Okeechobee

    with mostly nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.

  • There is the possibility of cyanobacteria, ordinarily known as blue-green algae in Lake Okeechobee.

    This contaminant blooms when nutrients feed on it, the way they feed on grasses or crops.

Lake Okeechobee Restoration Projects

There is an ongoing plan to restore Lake Okeechobee.

The state of Florida parliament has enacted a law, the 2000 Lake Okeechobee Protection Act and the subsequent Lake Okeechobee Protection Program, aimed at restoring the lake and its watersheds.

The Program is a two-phased, comprehensive, and innovative program.

Its primary objective is to restore and protect the lake.

Improving its water quality and implementing long-term solutions through different specific components.

In 2007 the

Florida parliament expanded the scope of the Lake Okeechobee Protection

Act to enable it to protect the Northern Everglades through the restoration and preservation of the entire Lake Okeechobee watershed, which includes the Caloosahatchee and St.

Lucie estuaries.

FAQs

Does Lake Okeechobee drain into the Everglades?

Yes,  Lake Okeechobee Lake drains into the Everglades.

The shape of

Lake Okeechobee

is like a very big shallow bowl.

When the volume of water gets into it from rainfall, other lakes, and streams, its southern edge will overflow, and the overflow of water from it will create Everglades.

The water will continue to flow through the Everglades to Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

How does Lake Okeechobee drain?

Water from Lake Okeechobee drains by discharging to the St.

Lucie River, flowing into the Indian River Lagoon, out of the St.

\Lucie Inlet, and into the Atlantic Ocean, increasing the water level of the beaches in Martin and St.

Lucie counties as it flows along.

Does Lake Okeechobee drain into the Gulf of Mexico?

Yes, the water that flows out of

Lake Okeechobee

is discharged to the rivers and flows to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

The design of the drain in 1947 was that the Caloosahatchee and St.

Lucie rivers would be safety valves of the system when there is overflooding.

 

 

 

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Born & raised amidst the gators and orange groves of Florida, I’ve waded through the Everglades and braved the dizzying heights of Orlando’s roller coasters.

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