Welcomed wet weather in 2009 helped rescue Lake Okeechobee from back-to-back years of dipping to depths below environmental protection standards. However, in 2010 and the years to come, continued manipulation of water levels is expected to strain the environmental health of the lake that doubles as South Florida's back-up water supply.

Twice in the past six years, Lake Okeechobee dropped too low for too long, violating state standards -- called minimum flows and levels -- used as environmental benchmarks for the water body that historically fed the Everglades. Dikes and draining turned Lake Okeechobee into a giant reservoir, sacrificing the health of the lake for the sake of agriculture and development. In recent years, growing public-safety concerns about the earthen dike that protects lakeside communities from flooding prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to start keeping the lake about a foot lower than usual year round.

That leaves less lake water to use for irrigation and to back up South Florida water supplies. During dry weather, it also makes the lake more prone to dropping below the minimum-level standards intended to protect its environmental health. Water managers say the answer is completing ongoing repairs to strengthen the lake's dike and also building reservoirs planned for Everglades restoration that would provide a water supply alternative to the lake. The problem is both of those solutions are expected to take decades to complete. Continue reading the article at the Sun Sentinel.