Lee County Division of Natural Resources Operations Manager Kurt Harclerode says the lack of fresh-water flow in the river combined with longer, warmer days have led to algal blooms that are unlikely to go away without the recommended releases. The blooms have prompted Lee, Hendry and Glades Counties to issue health advisories for the Caloosahatchee.

“The board action that was taken last week was to make a recommendation to the Corp of Engineers to actually make the releases if the conditions warranted,” says Harclerode. “We believe, certainly that the conditions warrant.”

He says the District and the Corp are looking at the best way to time the releases into the Caloosahatchee.

“We don’t want to hesitate and wait until we get into another crisis situation with a major algal bloom in the river,” says Harclerode. “We need to start those now so we don’t have that type of fish kills and ecological damage that occurred last year.”

The freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee will help with two problems—algal blooms and areas of high salinity. Once they begin, the river should receive enough water to push the algae downriver. When the algal bloom reaches the area where the water contains high levels of salt, it dies. The freshwater that has carried it into the estuary then mixes with the salt water to lower the overall salinity.

Harclerode says he is hopeful the releases will begin soon.