Converted
02-23-2006, 02:15 PM
The trip to hunt an STA for our friends from the north will be shortened in future years. We had a presentation at the Lake O mtg this month on projects being planned north of the lake. There is a very large (8044 acre) STA planned for the Lakeport Area. It will be located North of route 78 and stretch from Harney Pond Canal all the way to Indian Prairie. There will be three reservoirs north of the reservation and east of the Kissimmee River. They are 6841, 5416 and 2961 acres respectively.
The most controversial portion is a plan for an STA at Fisheating creek. There are many problems with where it will sit and how water will get from the creek to the STA and then back into the lake. One proposal calls for a weir across fisheating creek which would block motor boat access from the lake into the creek. They said they would provide airboat crossings and canoe portage areas as well as a boat ramp on both sides of the weir.
It is going to be a hard sell for the district and it should be. Fisheating creek is the last free flowing tributary into Lake Okeechobee. Trying to restore the natural order of things by building more water control structures in a natural area is problematic.
The most controversial portion is a plan for an STA at Fisheating creek. There are many problems with where it will sit and how water will get from the creek to the STA and then back into the lake. One proposal calls for a weir across fisheating creek which would block motor boat access from the lake into the creek. They said they would provide airboat crossings and canoe portage areas as well as a boat ramp on both sides of the weir.
It is going to be a hard sell for the district and it should be. Fisheating creek is the last free flowing tributary into Lake Okeechobee. Trying to restore the natural order of things by building more water control structures in a natural area is problematic.