TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will reduce the amount of water flowing from Lake Okeechobee.
The Corps said Wednesday that it's making the move as a result of falling lake levels, drier conditions and an improving precipitation forecast.
Flow to the Caloosahatchee Estuary and the St. Lucie Estuary are being reduced immediately. The Corps says it will further reduce the target flows if the lake's water level continues to fall.
The move comes a day after Gov. Rick Scott committed $40 million to finishing construction on a storm water treatment project by the St. Lucie River and said the Army Corps of Engineers hadn't done its part in maintaining the Lake Okeechobee dike system. Scott says the dumping of polluted water in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries has led to fish kills and toxic water.
