Anglers for Lake Okeechobee will discuss lower level in meeting at Okeechobee High School

Commissioners from five counties surrounding Lake Okeechobee will meet tonight to discuss a new strategy for curbing damaging discharges to Stuart and Fort Myers.

The counties include: Martin, Okeechobee, Hendry, Glades and Palm Beach.

Keeping the lake level lower in the dry winter season to make room for heavy rains in the wet summer season is a controversial proposal with as many critics as supporters.

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast has been pushing the proposal to keep toxic blue-green algae blooms from polluting the St. Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean when the Army Corps of Engineers discharges excess lake water through the C-44 Canal.

Anglers for Lake Okeechobee, a nonprofit that advocates for lake anglers and fishing guides, thinks a 10.5-foot-level will be detrimental to the lake's health and dependents.

As of Tuesday, the lake level was 11.23 feet. On the same date in 2007, it was 9.42 feet. By July 2, 2007, the lake would bottom out at 8.82 feet, it's all-time lowest mark since the construction of the Herbert Hoover Dike in the early 1930s. 

"A deeper lake is a dirtier lake and a deeper lake makes harmful discharges to the estuaries more likely," Mast wrote in a Facebook post. "I hope everyone involved will come to the table tonight with an open mind, recognizing that continuing the failed status quo of destroying the estuaries and the human health of millions is not a solution."

Mast also chided "special interest groups" he says "have already hijacked this meeting to push their agenda" by publishing quotes such as, "This was not a crisis determined by Mother Nature, it was an unnecessary, man-made crisis that could have been avoided."

"This kind of alarmist rhetoric is extremely counter productive," Mast said. "All water users are still getting their water. And we are in a far better position than last year to avoid harmful discharges, which by the way are the true 'man made crisis that could have been avoided.' "

If you go

When: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 7
Where: Okeechobee High School, 2800 U.S. Highway 441 North, Okeechobee
Follow: @TCPalmEKiller's live coverage on Twitter