U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The water level now stands at 16.25 feet. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' goal has always been to keep releases from the lake "at a minimum."

Hurricane Ian’s devastation on the Southwest Florida coast sent a chill up the spine of anyone in Miami worried about the next big one — and it sharpened the focus of federal planners working to design and build new barriers to avoid a similar outcome for Miami-Dade.

The Corps said it's willing to spend another $8.2 million and take up to five years to better coordinate other plans covering drainage, Biscayne Bay and Everglades marsh restoration and beach renourishment.

The 4-year study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found storm surge flooding alone could amount to $24 billion annually with three feet of sea rise, thanks to a warming planet.

Mechanical harvesters will be used to collect invasive floating plants and the plants will then be processed and pumped to nearby hayfields to enhance soil.

The study by the Environmental Integrity Project analyzed biennial pollution reports sent by states to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The money will be used for restoration projects that have dragged on for years, including building a reservoir and undoing damage from old bridges built in the Everglades.

Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples says the measure boils down to "manipulation of the new Lake Okeechobee plan."

The Corps and Miami-Dade would have shared the $4.6 billion cost for the work that included fortress-like flood walls and gates. How much the Corps pays will now depend on the plan the county proposes.

The Army Corps commander overseeing the new plan said Monday that a version of the plan, unveiled in June, will be tweaked but remain largely unchanged.

The plan selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would stop sending water south if levels drop too low in the dry season to protect water supplies.

Alternatives for how the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers plans to manage the lake all propose increasing water levels during the dry season to above 17 feet, raising concerns about the health of the lake.