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Snail Kites in Florida Slip

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is keeping water levels in Florida's Lake Okeechobee too high, according to a suit filed last month by the National Wildlife Federation and its Florida affiliate.

Corps policy is reportedly impacting the federally endangered snail kite by flooding many of the lake's marshes and reducing the number of apple snails available for the kites to eat. Conservationists argue that Lake Okeechobee should be kept between 12 and 15.5 feet above sea level, as recommended by state wildlife scientists, instead of the 13.5 to 17 feet, which is the current Corps policy.

Lower water would be healthier, argue policy opponents who claim that the Corps should release small amounts of water year-round instead of its current tactic of making massive releases. The conservationists want the court to declare the Corps' actions illegal under the Endangered Species Act and order the Corps to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a step that could result in binding requirements for the Corps to protect snail kite habitat. Also requested is a prohibition that the Corps stop doing anything else on the lake "that further destroys or degrades" the habitat.

Snail kite numbers have recently plummeted by more than 50 percent - from 3,577 in 1999 to 1,610 in 2003.

Conservationists have accused the Corps and South Florida water managers (not named in the suit, however) of keeping Lake Okeechobee high to ensure a plentiful water supply for the surrounding sugar industry and other agricultural interests. The Corps' commander in Jacksonville said his agency is trying to be fair to all interests while dealing with a lake swollen by this spring's rains, pollution stirred by last year's hurricanes, and communities throughout Central and South Florida irate about excess water.