New commander appointed to the US Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District

On Thursday, a new commander was appointed to lead the US Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District at the Sanibel Marriott Harbour Resort. Colonel Brandon Bowman will be taking over from Colonel James Booth for the next three-year cycle.

The event, with over 180 guests, provided an opportunity for community members to meet the new commander and express their concerns about water quality.

"Every one of these discharge events we have is incredibly costly, on our environment, on our economy, our property values, so it really is a horrible thing that's been going on for far too long," said a co-founder of Captains for Clean Water, Daniel Andrews.

Decisions regarding water discharge from Lake Okeechobee will be made by Colonel Bowman.

"There probably will be some changes eventually, but at least for the first 90 days I'm going to continue doing what Col Booth did, to learn the system, before I make any changes with how the district runs," Bowman stated.

One significant upcoming change is the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual Plan, which the Army Corps says will result in almost 40% less discharge from the lake. The US Army Corps indicated that this plan should go into effect in August.

Bowman says his background will be helpful in handling disasters like hurricanes.

"Responding to the Hawaii wildfires was a very big response and getting to know the corps of engineers' full capabilities across the enterprise, because it's not just the district responding, it'll be the entire enterprise," Bowman explained.

The official change of command ceremony will take place on July 26, marking the beginning of Colonel Bowman's three-year term.