LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- Starting Friday, the Army Corps of Engineers will reduce flows from Lake Okeechobee.
For months, the Corps has been dumping water from the lake into the Caloosahatchee and Saint Lucie rivers in order to reduce the lake's water level.
Right now, the lake sits at 14.56 feet, which is down nearly two feet since its peak at 16.4 feet back in early February.
The Corps is beginning a 7-day pulse release with an average target flow of 2,500 square feet per second at the Franklin Lock & Dam near Fort Myers. That's down from a previous target flow of 4,000 square feet per second.
Water flow into the St. Lucie river is also being reduced from 1,800 to 950 square feet per second.
