Restoring Lake Seminole

 Kelli Levy is an Environmental Program Manager with the Pinellas County  Department of Environmental Management. She provided an update on the Lake Seminole restoration project at our April 2005 meeting. The objectives of this project are to improve the water quality and fish habitat of Lake Seminole. Some of her key points include:

•  Permitting is underway and expected to be completed in December '05 or January '06. Construction will begin shortly thereafter.
•  Construction at the North end of the lake will include dredging and building a small sub-basin in the lake plus a small building with associated controls and piping for diversion and treatment of flow from the Seminole Bypass Canal into Lake Seminole. The diversion of the water from the canal will only occur during times of high water flow and thus NOT impact the level of the canal.
•  The lake level will be lowered about 2.5 feet to expose shoreline for removal of muck. This operation will focus on the West side of the lake, South of 102nd Ave. and to a lesser extent on the North shoreline - above Tradewinds Blvd.
•  Invasive plants (Brazilian pepper, hydrilla, etc.) will be removed and replaced with native plants.
•  Construction traffic, brush / dirt / muck removal, etc. will use Tradewinds Blvd. for access and likely create a mess for 2-3 months.
  Street parking will be prohibited during daylight hours during that time.

Kelli can be reached at 464-4425 for further questions. Contact her or the webmaster for a copy of her entire presentation (a 50 Mbyte file).

Additional details can be found at the Pinellas County's Watershed web page  and photos here