Share Your Opinion: Stop Toxic Discharges
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently determines when to discharge water to the east and west of Lake Okeechobee using a document called the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS). This outdated and harmful regulation schedule is based on data from more than a decade ago and causes serious damage to our community through frequent discharges of toxic water. As you know, these discharges threaten our community's health, environment and economy.
As a result, I wrote a law forcing them to update the discharge schedule with the goal of stopping harmful discharges to the estuaries!
Now, the Army Corps has narrowed down their selection of a new regulation schedule to six potential plans and will select the final schedule this July:
- Plans AA and CC would substantially reduce discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie.
- Plan BB would actually increase discharges!
- You can learn more about the other plans here.
I have teamed up with environmental groups and community leaders east, west and south of Lake Okeechobee to fight for a plan that will stop toxic discharges to both the east and west coasts while sending as much fresh water south into the Everglades as possible!