Citizens added dots to maps of Harris Chain lakes to indicate Hydrilla treatment priorities.
They had a prior meeting in Eustis which we also filmed.
FWC's mission is to "manage fish and wildlife habitats for the benefit of people".
This meeting on April 2, 2019, in Tavares, FL had about 80 attendees and was to explain available funding. In this case it, the new funding came from the Lake County Water Authority (LCWA), which voted to spend over $1-million to supplement what the FWC already spent on earlier Hydrilla treatments. Attendees included boaters, fishermen, duck hunters, sailing enthusiasts, environmentalist activists and waterfront owners who are all impacted by Hydrilla on the Harris Chain of Lakes. The meeting was mostly publicized to the 400+ people who have joined an FWC email list for water quality issues in Lake County.
You can see our 1-hour video of the meeting HERE, or any videos at our YouTube channel "FiscalRangersFlorida".
In the video, FWC staff explained the funding, showed maps of the local lakes ( Dora, Big & Little Harris, Yale, Griffin, Eustis, etc) with white circles around remaining Hydrilla infested areas.
After a discussion, attendees were given colored dots to put on maps to show their preferences for treatment or NO TREATMENT. Waterfront owners, boating/sailing enthusiasts and environmental activists WANTED treatment, but fishermen like Hydrilla and did not want some areas treated.
They could place blue or green dots to show priority areas for treatment, and red or yellow dots to show "do not treat".
There was also a lively and penetrating Q&A session at the end that covered several water quality issues.
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How safe was the chemical being sprayed.
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How waterfront owners could get a permit to spray their own shoreline or cut Hydrilla.
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Contact [email protected] to apply for a treatment permit.
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Residents could help by raking up and removing dead hydrilla
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Nutrients flowing into the Harris Chain from Lake Apopka actually feed algae, which blocks the sun, reducing Hydrilla growth.
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There currently is no market or commercial use for harvested Hydrilla. (Inventors: Find one!!)
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There is a need to "stop Hydrilla at the source" - Need to minimize the use of lawn fertilizers with public education.
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Landowners need to manage their property so fertilizer nutrients (phosphorus, etc.) don't flow to the lake.
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Lake County was one of first to ban the use of phosphorus in detergents so they don't seep into the aquifer.
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Lake County passed an ordinance banning use of fertilizers during summer months, but it only affects COMMERCIAL landscapers, not residential uses such as lawn fertilizer at big box stores.
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Currently, there is no education program to educate retail sellers of residential fertilizer of the damage it causes to lakes, and it is needed.
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Residential owners should consult with Ag services (on Woodlea in Tavares) and get the soil tested, then apply correct fertilizer outside of banned periods.
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The Lake County Water Authority (LCWA) is paying for the treatment plan discussed at this meeting. The FWC already used up their available funds on Little Lake Harris, Big Lake Harris and some parts of Lake Eustis.
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Is Milorganite better/safer to use than normal fertilizer? Answer: Ask the Agriculture extension on Woodlea in Tavares.
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Note: Ace hardware staff recommended it to me and I live on a canal. Haven't applied it yet.
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Hydrilla will grow in either high or low nutrient water sources.
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Dept of Agriculture plus Dept of Environmental Protection (DEP) put together "BMAPs" or Basin Management Action Plans to fix water quality issues. They identify sources of nutrients and plans on how to reduce those. They exist for about every high priority water body in Florida. HERE is the DEP page on BMAPs.
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Is FWC committed to leaving 30% of vegetation for waterfowl life? (Duck hunters were there also). Answer: 30% is too rigid. Shallow lakes might need 70% vegetation for good fish and wildlife habitat. But dark water, DEEP lakes won't support even 30%. So the needs vary. FWC is committed to managing habitat so duck hunters, homeowners, boat users, and fishermen can all use it. Thus desired vegetation coverage on Lake Griffin is different from Lake Dora.
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There is significant water runoff from housing developments. Is there an education program to reduce or control it? Why can't we take some of the funding for chemicals and spend it on an education program to reduce housing development runoff into lakes? Answer: There are programs for that funded by different funding sources. He explained the common government answer that funds dedicated to one use cannot be used for other programs. (This is because the legislators or lobbyists pass budgets funding certain objectives, but cannot be used for others. For example, funds may be passed for capital construction, but not maintenance, or staff. Another example is funds dedicated to aquatic plant management cannot be shifted to another use. ).
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Sailing clubs, such as on Lake Eustis, are affected by aquatic weeds which get caught in their rudders or keels. It is reducing the use of Lake Eustis for regattas and competition. There are places on Lake Eustis where they no longer can have sailboat races. Locals want to practice for world sailing championships in three years, but fear lack of clear waters. Are we reaching a point where sailors cannot expect clear waters in Lake Eustis or the Harris Chain? FWC Answer: Hydrilla management is an ongoing issue and treatment is very costly and they continue to do the best they can (within budget). However, the sailing club should act like the big Bass fishing tournament organizers, and communicate important dates with FWC so treatment can be scheduled (if budgets permit). FWC is developing lake management plans and the sailors should communicate with FWC on areas that need to be clear for sailing.
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Why can't the LCWA money be used for education, mechanical harvesting, etc. rather than just on chemicals? The state money may be restricted, but the LCWA money is "our money" and why can't it be used on alternative solutions? Answer from FWC's Nathalie: She will issue permits to LCWA to do treatment costing about $1.5-million. Answer from Mike Perry, Exec. Officer of LCWA: Their Board decided to spend it on FWC permitted treatment for two reasons: 1) If we don't hit the Hydrilla hard enough, it will become a $10-million problem, and 2) it should be clear this is supplemental to FWC funding and not a replacement. It is a one-time funding project. Thus the objective is to get Hydrilla reduced to the least amount and FWC can manage it with their funds. (Ed. Note: This is a partial reason why LCWA doubled their property tax millage rate from about .25 mills to about .50 mills. It remains to be seen if they reduce that rate back to .25 after the Hydrilla issue is under control). Perry also recommends that concerned taxpayers contact their legislators to ensure FWC has adequate funding to control Hydrilla and keep it at minimum levels in the future. (Note: Residents who think the LCWA funding should be different should run for their Board.)
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LCWA relies on the "water professionals" at FWC to know which chemicals and treatments work. So they don't voice an opinion on treatment alternatives. (Note: The current LCWA funding with the higher .50 millage rate is about $10-million per year, and much is spent on chemicals at their "NURF" facility to treat polluted water flowing from Lake Apopka into the Harris Chain.). Many people don't like herbicides sprayed in the lakes to treat Hydrilla, but it currently is the only viable tool.
The slides at the beginning of this video show maps of the lakes with most dots already applied. The red or orange map areas indicated high Hydrilla infestations.
FWC will use these maps to apply chemicals funded by the Lake County Water Authority, and staff talk about the schedules, etc. in the video.
Video by Vance Jochim of the Lake County, FL fiscal watchdog blog FiscalRangers.com.
If you look at the maps on the video, the red dots give a good clue where fishing fans like the fishing with Hydrilla there.
The video was made April 2 and uploaded April 12, 2019.
If you have questions for FWC, email [email protected] .
Note: This process of information gathering by the government using maps and dots is known as the "Delphi Technique". Some meetings I have observed had representatives who tried to bias the "dotting" but that was not in evidence here. Although the staff said each person would get just three dots of each color at each map, that was not enforced, so people could grab lots of dots and apply them. The next issue is whether staff actually follows the preferences on the maps, and the results are sometimes ignored. I don't think the staff had any bias as they cover this statewide, and the funds are locally provided, so I assume they will follow the direction shown by the dots. So, as they say, you get government by those who show up, and the attendees were from a mailing list FWC had from prior meetings, so if some people did not follow the issue or get the word about the meeting, they lost an opportunity to "vote".
Vance Jochim
If you would like to get more local news and videos like these, send a request to subscribe to [email protected] .
If you want to follow other Lake County Lake Water quality issues, join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vance4Water/
This video is 1 hour long, 3.6GB in size, and our speedtest upload speed was only .74 to 1.45 Mbps, thus it took 6 hours to upload the one hour video via Comcast to YouTube.
Tavares, FL Published April 12, 2019
Vance Jochim
[email protected]
YouTube Channel "FiscalRangersFlorida"
