Congressman Brian Mast (R-Florida's 21st Congressional District) is calling for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bring the Lake Okeechobee discharges to a halt, which he says are damaging the St. Lucie River. USACE officials say they will pause discharges out of Lake Okeechobee for two weeks starting Saturday. John Rebello, spokesperson for USACE Jacksonville District, sent this statement to WPBF 25 News on Wednesday:"Water levels must continue to come down before the beginning of both the wet season and the Atlantic hurricane season, for both the ecology of the Lake and the safety of the citizens in the communities around the lake. Lower lake water levels provide flood risk management as well as decrease the probability of large releases occurring during the summer, which is also the peak of algal bloom season. High Lake stages are also linked to increased bloom activity within the Lake."Through Friday, USACE water managers will continue targeting the maximum allowable flows under the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule 2008 (LORS08) maximum practicable releases south, an average of 4,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at Julian Keen Jr. Lock and Dam (S-77) to the west, 1,800 cfs at St. Lucie Lock and Dam (S-80) to the east, and up to 500 cfs to the Lake Worth Lagoon through the C-51 canal to the southeast. "To protect salinity within the estuaries, as we said we would, we will be implementing a two-week long rest period after the 29th before we commence any further releases to ready the lake for the oncoming wet and hurricane seasons. Unless conditions significantly change, flows after the rest period will be less than 4,000 west and 1,800 east. "We understand the current lake releases are stressful for the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee River estuaries and adjacent communities. We know from our consistent engagement with stakeholders that water quality remains one of their significant concerns. As such, it is also one of the principal considerations integrated into our decision-making as we strive to balance the multiple project purposes for Lake Okeechobee water management."We have multiple projects in planning, design and construction that will help provide relief to the estuaries and send water south. As projects complete construction and we begin to operate them we will begin to have more flexibility to move water where it is needed for restoration and reduce the need for damaging discharges. Restoration efforts depend on improving the storage, treatment, and conveyance of water. "This year alone, we anticipate awarding $3.1 Billion in new construction contracts to keep Everglades restoration projects moving forward and to ensure they are operational as soon as possible, providing additional water storage and increased water flows where needed for restoration, and reduce damaging flows to the Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie estuaries. We are consistently working with our partners in the State of Florida to invest in long-term solutions with ecosystem restoration projects that are underway to restore the Everglades and limit damaging releases into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries and move water south to the central Everglades and Florida Bay."Rick Castellini is the general manager of MarineMax in Stuart, a boat dealership, service center and marina. He says there was a toxic algae bloom next to MarineMax by the Palm City Bridge two weeks ago, though the Florida Department of Environmental officials say the results of the toxicity of that sample are still pending.Castellini says several years ago, a harmful bloom made at least one employee sick and caused MarineMax to lose a significant amount of sales."A lot of the times, I personally feel helpless,” said Castellini. "At some point, if the blooms were that severe, I would be the first to tell them you can’t go near the water anymore, which means all work at that point would come to a halt."He says he’s worried the increase in the Lake Okeechobee discharges this year will mean those toxic algae blooms will soon be returning.Castellini says he appreciates the efforts of Mast, who is urging USACE to stop the discharges now.“We went from water that was Bahama blue to water that you can’t even see your hand in,” said Mast. “A two-week pause in discharges, as recently announced, is a woefully inefficient half measure. The only way to prevent another lost summer is a long-term halt... The ongoing discharges, are not only incredibly damaging to our estuary but also directly contradict (USACE's) best available science and modeling. I urge you to immediately cease discharges to the St. Lucie estuary.” Castellini questions USACE's assertion it is doing everything it can to begin sending more water releases south to the Everglades as soon as possible, an effort USACE officials say the agency has spent billions on. "I'm questioning whether it’s being spent properly and whether or not the water farms are ever going to be built," said Castellini. Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25 Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.