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Re: Little Redfish Management Plan and Discussion
BY ANDY MEINEN SUN REPORTER
Management of the Little Redfish Lake outfall was a hot topic at the lake’s public meeting Tuesday at the Coastal Branch Library.
Individual community lake meetings are being held between April and May to help Walton County develop a management plan for the lakes.
The impact from hurricanes and how they affect Little Redfish Lake and the outfall were two issues explored.
“Debris from hurricanes becomes such a big mess and it lasts for so long,” said Bill Crane, Little Redfish Lake resident.
The mess involves remnants of walkovers, fencing and other debris that clog the outfall, Crane said.
“(The outfall) was just filled with debris,” lake resident Carrie Nelle Moye said. “I saw dead snakes hanging over some of the debris and I poked them to make sure they were dead.”
The Walton Board of County Commissioners is looking to enter into contracts with debris removal companies before storms so the cleanup process can began as soon as the storm passes, Commissioner Cindy Meadows said.
Marianne Grant, who owns several lots around the lake, feels the septic tanks need to go.
“I feel very strongly that we have to get our (septic tanks) out of Bannerman (Beach Lane),” Grant said. “I think it is critical to get our (septic tanks) out of there.”
The septic tanks are still impacting the area with Styrofoam beads, used in septic tank’s drain fields, are still in the scrub brush, lake resident David Rovner said.
“There is still all that foam,” Rovner said. “I picked up two garbage bags full of it just last month.”
Grant also wanted to make the sure the outfall is able to roam on its own and not be managed.
“The thing about these coastal dune lakes is that they are a dynamic system,” said Phillip Ellis, coastal dune lakes program coordinator for the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance. “These (outfalls) do change. The Gulf current moves east to west and left up to its natural tendencies the outfall will migrate back to the west. But often with hurricane conditions they will pop off to a more direct connection to the Gulf. The outfalls do meander naturally.”
Rovner doesn’t want the lake to be over-managed.
“I prefer to leave the outfall alone. I love the fact that (the lake) opens and closes and cleanses itself,” Rovner said. “I’d rather leave it to nature.”
The public meeting for Fuller, Campbell and Morris Lakes is April 24, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The meeting for Big Redfish Lake is April 24, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The meeting for Eastern Lake is April 25, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. All meetings will take place at the Walton County Coastal Branch Library.
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