Everglades Restoration Timeline

St. Lucie Estuary

U.S. Army Corps approves a planned Harmful Algal Bloom Deviation

The Army Corps announces the approval of a planned deviation from the water control plan for Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades Agricultural Area, also known as the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS 2008), in order to reduce risk from Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). The Corps approved the planned deviation from LORS 2008 in anticipation of and following freshwater HABs, to help reduce the risk of potential concerns associated with algal blooms in Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie, and Caloosahatchee estuaries. The announcement states that implementation of this deviation could begin in February 2021 at the earliest.