No easy answers to Eastern Lake issues By LEAH STRATMANN (Beach Breeze/Defuniak Herald) There has been much written of late of what action, if any, should be taken on Eastern Lake, one of the 15 globally rare coastal dune lakes found in Walton County. On the one hand are the members of the Eastern Lake Neighborhood Association (ELNA) who want the county to take action and dig out the outfall area, which they claim has been blocked since May 2005 when one local landowner illegally created sand dunes using construction grade sand. The landowner, Worth Williams, was cited for this illegal action by the county and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and ordered to remove the sand. However, tropical storm Arlene and Hurricane Dennis moved the sand into the lake for him. ELNA claims these storms have dammed up the outfall and has played a part in the reeds and grasses growing unchecked in the lake. Tedd Wilson said this dam has resulted in ?no saltwater fish, crabs, shrimp or wildlife to migrate to the lake, which they have done for decades. Five years ago we could catch seven to eight crabs per week. I would guess the crab (population) has been reduced by 80 percent,? he said. Further Wilson says that within one to two years the grass growing on the bottom will be above the docks many of the homeowners have and the grasses will impede the use of boats on the lakes. Not all of the lakes permit the use of motorized craft, but Eastern Lake is an exception. ?If the lake were dredged and the lake started to output to the east, the saltwater should destroy the grasses. The opinion now is that it may be too late,? Wilson said. Wilson also said the lake has completely stopped popping off to the Gulf of Mexico as it should. Brenda Rees disagrees with Wilson?s assessment, saying, ?The lake has been popping off during the last two years and saltwater has come in, but perhaps in not the large amounts of the past. I have caught saltwater fish and crab in the lake during the last year,? she said. ?However, my opinion is the lake should not be forced open to the east, regardless of what property owners want. Eastern Lake has opened on its own and there has been an exchange of salt water. Excessive opening, sometimes at midnight by unknown individuals, may be a cause for some of the problems. This should stop,? Rees asserted. Apparently the county agrees citizens should stop meddling with the lake and is preparing to post signs around all the lakes warning that it is illegal to tamper with them. Bill Mancil, a retired engineer living on the lake since 1984 said, ?There are 200 of us on one side of the issue and three on the other side. There is not enough of an amount of saltwater coming in to do any good. The salinity has dropped 80 percent in the last two years. We don?t get mullet any more at all. When the lake opens properly it gets lots of saltwater. All we want to do is get the sand out of there and then let nature operate the lake. With a hurricane or two, the lake might fix itself, but I don?t know. ?There?s a lot said about people, not county employees, opening the lake at night. The county holds a permit to open the lake if the lake?s elevation is more than 3.5 feet. When the water gets to about the time the county would open it, it is very easy for anyone to open it to ride floats out or to fish,? Mancil said. Rees? opinion is supported by scientific data. Christian Wagley who holds a master?s degree in biology and coastal zone studies said, ?I have yet to see any scientific evidence to support dredging the lake. I have looked at the water quality data. It is natural when a hurricane comes it will move the outfall. Since 2005 we have had drought conditions, so the clarity of the lake has increased which has caused the growth of the grasses because they need sunlight. It is also possible there have been some nutrients washed into the lake that caused them to grow faster. Change is constant there and outfalls will always be rearranged by storms. ?Any attempt to try to manipulate the lake or hold them in place in a way people find desirable will ultimately harm the lake. That includes leaving the outfall alone. The county already has a permit allowing them to dredge out the lake if a home is threatened, and they haven?t had to use it. Using the guise of restoration to support dredging of the outfall will harm the natural state of the lake and consume thousands of local taxpayer dollars in the process,? he concluded. Julie Terrell, the program manager for the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, is a limnologist, an expert in fresh water lakes and rivers and a University of Florida graduate. She said, ?There are a lot of issues on the lake. That plant species is a native plant and is growing invasively and causing some problems. Water clarity is significantly increased. Seeing six to seven feet down into the lake, which is up from the normal two or three feet, is due to drought conditions. On the northern side, the lakes tend to be iced-tea colored. As you work your way towards the Gulf, the water is clearer with more blues and greens. All of this depends on the amount of rainfall you get. The tea-colored water comes closer to the outfall when it is ready to bust out,? she said. Terrell addressed the last meeting of the Coastal Dune Lake Advisory Committee with this information, which she says was met with some skepticism from ELNA members in attendance. ?While it is true the sand blowing into the lake (from the landowner) didn?t do the lake any good, it is not the reason for current conditions either,? she said. ?I don?t think the plant growth is related to the outfall opening. We have some really good data and some really good numbers about the growth. This species, which is out of control right now, is a salt tolerant species, so opening it up will not harm the grasses. What?s happening right now is not because the outfall is clogged. This is happening on all the lakes, such as Stallworth, and Big Red Fish and homeowners are concerned there as well,? she said. Wilson and the ELNA group claimed the salinity in the lake was down about 80 percent from normal numbers. Terrell said salinity is down 70 percent from December 2005 numbers, which is the last time the salinity levels in all the lakes was normal. ?The bottom water salinity averages 20 parts per thousand and right now it is about six per thousand. The grass, ruppia maritime grass commonly known as widgeon, is a ditch grass. It likes fresh water all the way to brackish and can tolerate saltwater. During December 2005 is the last time the salinity values were normal on all the lakes. This is not something isolated to Eastern Lake,? she emphasized. Wagley agrees with Terrell about the seagrass. ?Seagrass is well-known for having boom and bust cycles in response to changes in the environment, and conditions are obviously very good right now in Eastern Lake. It?s likely that when regular rains return and more pollutants (and natural tannins) are washed into the lake, water quality and clarity will decline and so will the extent of the seagrass. Healthy submerged grasses are a sign of good water quality and are celebrated by biologists and local residents, many of whom are working to restore them in waterways all over the country. Seagrass helps to stabilize sediments, filter pollutants, oxygenate the water, and provide tremendous habitat for aquatic life. In fact, widgeon grass itself is a favorite food of a number of native species of duck,? he said. ?If the rainfall continues as it has the last few days, the brackishness will come back and the water will not be as clear, but there is no guarantee the widgeon grasses will die,? Terrell said.
