By: Katrina Elsken, Okeechobee News
OKEECHOBEE — As the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration Project (LOWRP) moves through the planning phase, some changes have been proposed by the Project Delivery Team (PDT).
The plans previously under consideration include reservoirs in Glades County, north of Lake Okeechobee, ranging from 5 to 15 feet in pool depth.
A new plan uses a reservoir with an average depth of 4 feet, with a half-mile buffer around the reservoir. This feature would be operated more like a flow-through wetland for storage, providing both storage and wetland benefits.
“Stakeholder input is a key component of this planning effort and we have taken this into consideration as we developed the proposed tentatively selected plan for the project,” explained Jenn Miller of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “In response to concerns raised during the plan formulation process, the project team has revised the proposed tentatively selected plan for the project…