SUN SENTINEL

May 25 2007

With Lake Okeechobee low, muck scraped away

By Andy Reid

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cpmuck25may25,0,3757.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

Bulldozers replaced bass boats on a dried patch of Lake Okeechobee on Thursday, scraping away muck-caked consequences of turning the once pristine lake into Florida's largest retention pond.

Taking advantage of near-record-low water during a drought, water managers have work crews digging out pollution-laden muck -- enough to fill Dolphin Stadium -- from exposed lakebeds in the western and southern parts of the lake.

The muck that coats much of the bottom is the result of phosphorus, nitrogen and other pollutants washing off farms and lawns into a drainage system built decades ago to funnel storm water into the lake.

Removing up to two feet of muck restores the lake's natural sandy bottom and, when water returns, allows tape grass, bulrushes and other native plants needed for fish to spawn and birds to feed.

"This is our bright spot in terms of the drought," said Susan Gray, the South Florida Water Management District's Lake Okeechobee program director. "This is habitat restoration."

Water managers decided to lower Lake Okeechobee last year in anticipation of hurricanes that never occurred, and then drought kept the lake low this year. On Thursday the lake measured 9.2 feet above sea level, about 4 feet below normal. The lowest recorded level was 8.97 feet during the drought of 2001.

Fisheating Bay is among the six sites targeted for the $11 million muck removal project on the 730-square-mile lake.

Getting rid of the muck should also remove about 280 tons of phosphorus during the three-month project, according to the district.

Just at Fisheating Bay, on the west side of the lake near Moore Haven, the district expects to cart away 27,000 dump truck loads from 800 acres of exposed lakebed.

"We hope that this will only help water clarity and water quality," said Tim Rach, assistant director for South Florida for the state Department of Environmental Protection.