Rick Scott calls for “immediate action” to ease effects of Lake Okeechobee releases

Gov. Rick Scott is asking the Army Corps of Engineers to take swift action to stop Lake Okeechobee releases into the Calooshatchee and St. Lucie estuaries west and east of the lake respectively.

In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday, Scott asked that the agency “take immediate action to relieve the flooding of the Everglades Water Conservation Areas and the releases of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries.”

Scott said the agency needs to raise the L-29 canal to 8 1/2 inches so “substantial volumes of water can be moved” from a water conservation area to Everglades National Park through the Shark River Slough south of the lake.

“Moving water south out of the Water Conservation Areas will prevent the die off of wildlife whose habitat is currently flooded due to the heavy rainfall and also allow us to move more water from Lake Okeechobee south, relieving pressure from discharges to the Estuaries,” he wrote in the letter.

“The wildlife in the Water Conservation Area cannot sustain prolonged flooding and the economies that rely on the estuaries need immediate relief.”

The Corps of Engineers announced plans to release water from Lake Okeechobee starting Feb 5. Those releases have led significant concerns from community leaders in Southwest Florida.

The Naples Daily News reported that mayors from six Lee County cities met Wednesday to discuss how to cope with the discharges.

Scott’s request comes just days after Fort Myers Republican Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen asked Scott to halt the releases.