The future of Lake Okeechobee releases will be guided by a group that's meeting for the first time Tuesday in Clewiston.

Called the project delivery team, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead federal agency involved with the project, which includes developing new release protocols for what's often referred to as the heart of the historic Everglades.

"We’re going to be doing a lot of modeling and I think the colonel is looking not at numbers, but what’s going on at the lake," Skolte said. "We’re not aiming at a number but seeing how are things looking. Is the lake looking good? Are the estuaries healthy?"

Lake Okeechobee releases are often controversial on the west coast because water from the lake can damage the delicate Caloosahatchee River estuary or bring toxic blue-green algal blooms to Lee County.

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