Lake Okeechobee’s water level is so low that the northern section of the lakebed is exposed. It’s even caught fire.
Florida’s rainy season started in May, but not much has changed in the lake because the heavier showers are falling somewhere else.
The drought gripping South Florida for so long is to blame.
Those statements are true today, and also were in the summer of 2007.
However, back then, the lake dropped even more, to 8.82 feet, setting an all-time record low that’s holding fast.
Lake Okeechobee's water level is hovering between 11 feet and a few inches less, and while that’s more than two feet below its historical average for this time of year, it would take another two feet plus for this drought to cause Lake O to break its low-water mark.
The lake has not topped 13 feet since January.
Four navigation locks on the lake's north shore, one in Martin County, one in Okeechobee County, and two in Glades County, have been closed due to low water levels since the South Florida Water Management District shut them down this spring.
Anglers and boaters can still reach the lake through other public ramps.
The lake is still well above its all-time record low of 8.82 feet, set July 3, 2007, during a severe drought that dried out enough of the lakebed to fuel a fire on the exposed bottom. The water level in the lake fell to its second-lowest level at 8.97 feet during a severe drought in May 2001.
A similar fire broke out this year: the First Point Fire charred about 8,600 acres in the exposed lakebed near Buckhead Ridge on Feb. 12. It took firefighters two days to contain the blaze.
The current drought began months before a dry 2025 wet season and carried into winter. Evaporation and low inflow, not overuse, are driving most of the decline, according to state water managers.
The locks will reopen once the water depth reaches 12 feet.
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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