Converted
11-29-2006, 05:49 PM
This was my last Lake Okeechobee Committee Mtg. I learned a great deal over the last year and I hope I contributed a little. Newton has been named to take the seat.
The best news from the meeting was the fact that the Fisheating Creek STA/Reservoir project is no longer on the table. As nice as it would have been to have an STA SW of Lakeport, I strongly opposed the plan. The proposal would have put a water control structure across FEC and capture 100% of the flow to divert it for treatment to an STA. I consider it near criminal to screw with the last free flowing tributary to Lake Okeechobee. Destroying nature in an effort to restore nature is a giant step in the wrong direction. The only clear water on the Lake after the '04 storms was Fisheating Bay. Nature has a much better blueprint than anything the best civil engineer in the world can come up with. We do need to find a way to treat P loads in that tributary but it will be point source treatment near the various headwaters.
The committee is finalizing work on a 7 page series of Goals, Objectives, and Strategies. That will be presented to the WRAC for elevation to the Governing Board in the form af an action plan to continue restoration work for the Lake.
There is a possible issue regarding residual pesticides which may cause a problem with the water classification for the EAA Reservoir (near STA 3/4). We could find ourselves locked out because of a concern of transporting the residual up the food chain in consumption of fish or waterfowl. After a long side bar conservation with the USFWS rep, he felt that there was much less of a problem with waterfowl than fish. I suspect the reservoirs may be catch and release like Stick Marsh.
There may be a large scale pilot project to dredge the muck from the bottom of Lake O. FOS gave a "sales pitch" to partner with the SFWMD and USACoE to implement the project. The Pilot would take three years and cost $25-$50M. No word on what it would cost to dredge the entire lake but it is in dire need of demucking.
The best news from the meeting was the fact that the Fisheating Creek STA/Reservoir project is no longer on the table. As nice as it would have been to have an STA SW of Lakeport, I strongly opposed the plan. The proposal would have put a water control structure across FEC and capture 100% of the flow to divert it for treatment to an STA. I consider it near criminal to screw with the last free flowing tributary to Lake Okeechobee. Destroying nature in an effort to restore nature is a giant step in the wrong direction. The only clear water on the Lake after the '04 storms was Fisheating Bay. Nature has a much better blueprint than anything the best civil engineer in the world can come up with. We do need to find a way to treat P loads in that tributary but it will be point source treatment near the various headwaters.
The committee is finalizing work on a 7 page series of Goals, Objectives, and Strategies. That will be presented to the WRAC for elevation to the Governing Board in the form af an action plan to continue restoration work for the Lake.
There is a possible issue regarding residual pesticides which may cause a problem with the water classification for the EAA Reservoir (near STA 3/4). We could find ourselves locked out because of a concern of transporting the residual up the food chain in consumption of fish or waterfowl. After a long side bar conservation with the USFWS rep, he felt that there was much less of a problem with waterfowl than fish. I suspect the reservoirs may be catch and release like Stick Marsh.
There may be a large scale pilot project to dredge the muck from the bottom of Lake O. FOS gave a "sales pitch" to partner with the SFWMD and USACoE to implement the project. The Pilot would take three years and cost $25-$50M. No word on what it would cost to dredge the entire lake but it is in dire need of demucking.