Lake O Level Hits 12 Feet

LAKE OKEECHOBEE – The Big O Lake level hit 12 feet above sea level on April 16. Anglers and ecologists hope the lake will stay low enough, low enough for the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) to grow. The lower lake level is needed for sunlight to penetrate the water.

How low will Lake O go? How long will the low lake level last? How much SAV will grow? That’s up to Mother Nature.

“I’m not seeing the growth I had hoped to see so far,” Scott Martin, of Anglers for Lake Okeechobee, said in an April 16 interview. He said the lake water is not muddy, but has a dark brown tint due to tiny particles in the water column.

“I believe it’s going to take a little extra time to get that grass to pop,” Martin explained. “When water was crystal clear, the grass would pop faster.”

Co-Founder of AFLO, Scott Martin, surveys the sparse remaining SAV on Lake Okeechobee.

Martin said conditions are good for SAV. “There’s hard bottom everywhere,” he continued. “It’s going to take a little longer and a little more water out of the lake.”

While the lake is low, Martin said he hopes Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and SFWMD will implement some projects to improve the ecology.

“We need a tractor on the lake,” he said. “We need someone planting vegetation. We need to open up some these marshes where water flow can exchange … do some physical work on the lake.”

Martin said there are areas with zero muck.  “We’ve got good pH. We’ve got good soil. We need vegetation to clean the water up,” he continued.

The low lake level brings challenges for anglers, Martin warned. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has advised boaters to stay in the navigation channels.

“You’ve got to be careful,” Martin agreed. “You can’t run back in the grass – trolling motors only.”  Boaters who are not familiar with the lake’s underwater topography could run into a sandbar. There could also be other hazards submerged beneath the waters.

He said fishing is good in the Rim Canal where boating is less hazardous this time of year.

SAV is the lake’s natural filter system. The long term restoration goals are to consistently have over 40,000 acres of SAV in the lake. Due to hurricane damage and years of high lake levels, the latest survey found less than 3,000 acres of SAV.

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