hnooe

I went on my kayak to the outfall area of Camp Creek Lake last week--it has broken through/connected to the Gulf--there has slow movement of the water out to the Gulf..... but obviously, it is too slow--everyone's with docks right on Camp Creek Lake haven't been able to use them--they have been underwater for almost 2 months now!

I know here in South Walton that man cannot give Nature a push to open it up more, physically, but how much longer will my dock be under water?

I will talk to anyone to get the info. on what to do about this? Anyone have any ideas?
Has Global Warming started to affect South Walton now!!!

Signed,

Dockless Camp Creeker.

NotDeadYet

Hurricane Ike piled up lots of sand at all the dune lake outlets. Not sure if you can blame Ike on global warming.
It's just part of the natural cycle. Inconvenient, but not unnatural. I noticed driving by the other day that the water is really high. Have you still got any septic systems around the lake?

hnooe

[quote=NotDeadYet;502375]Hurricane Ike piled up lots of sand at all the dune lake outlets. Not sure if you can blame Ike on global warming.
It's just part of the natural cycle. Inconvenient, but not unnatural. I noticed driving by the other day that the water is really high. Have you still got any septic systems around the lake?[/quote]

Not on our street, but maybe some of the older houses on the northside of the lake.

SWGB

If it's started to trickle through it shouldn't be long before everyone's complaining that there isn't enough water in the lake and that it's a platform and not a dock.

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Lake View Too

I've noticed Western Lake unusually high recently. Eastern Lake has been abnormally high for several years now. How many times in recent memory has Camp Creek Lake been this high?

AAbsolute

I love your view.

We'll call in an airstrike for you tomorrow from the boomers at Eglin. Seek cover when the sun is at its highest.

AAbsolute

Also, please feel free to attend the next CDLAB meeting, on December 4th at the Coastal Branch Library, and let the board know about your concerns.

Sincerely,
Anthony Austermann
------------------------------------------
Anthony Austermann
Environmental Planner
Walton County Planning and Development Services
Environmental Department
Walton County Courthouse Annex
31 Coastal Centre Boulevard, Suite 100
Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459
(850) 267-1955 office
(850) 622-9133 fax
ausanthony@co.walton.fl.us
http://www.co.walton.fl.us/default.asp?ID=228

NotDeadYet

Maybe not. Depends how much sand is blocking the outlet. That would ordinarily be the case, but the county had quite the time getting Eastern Lake open after Ike because of the volume of sand. I might walk there tomorrow and have a look, have not been on that beach in quite a while.
If there are septic tanks under water, hnooe, you ought to talk to the county about them.

Hop

this is usually the case...

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SWGB

Eastern lake should pop any day now. We went down the other day and it's only got several more inches to get over the sand.

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floridiandreams

I am guessing most folks worried about coastal dune lakes outfall have not lived here for very long.

It is part of Mother Nature's will. It will all even out.
Imagine this:
If every time someone complains about one of the lakes getting too full, then all the freaked out neighbors rally together and takes action with a bulldozer, imagine what the outcome of that will be! No outfall at all, not lake at all, oops... everyone on 30A lives next to mud puddle. Oh.... no...

This is nothing new!

We live in a beautiful ecosystem that we should all be grateful for!

__________________
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Miss Kitty

Great post!

hnooe...didn't we have this same conversation before? I remember something about floating docks.

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The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open.

hnooe

Yea we did....I am going to quit complaning about Mother Nature, and just let her do her thing...I am too impatient!

organicmama

Didn't we have this conversation this morning?

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You need not think alike to love alike.
Francis David

SWGB

Yes, my pupil's are still glued to the back of my head.

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Lake View Too

The situation at Eastern Lake is different in that it was started by a developer depositing 27 dumptruck loads of filldirt into the floodplain of the inlet after Ivan. The sand that has accrued since then has blocked the inlet from ever opening naturally. Also, the lake encroaches to where it is touching some houses on the lake causing structural damage. I hope all of you are cognizant that if beach renourishment ever comes to SoWal it will certainly impact the lakes.

SWGB

Hmm, it couldn't have anything to do with forcing the lake open could it? Ever ailment that has ever befallen Eastern Lake is blamed on this one incident. When the weeds were overgrown it was blamed on this, not the owners with grass that extends to the shoreline who fertilize it. When the salinity of the lake was at an all time low (no proof this isn't a natural cycle or mention of the fact that the salinity has only been measured for a very short period) it was all the fault of this one individual.

Perhaps the most vocal group on Eastern lake shouldn't have built their homes in what amounts to a FLOOD plain.

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SWGB

Looks like Eastern Lake opened this morning. The lake has dropped about a foot.

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hnooe

Good for all the Eastern Lakers--boy, I am just glad I built my place at 20 feet above sea level.

I can and will wait this one out, do you hear me God?"

Lake View Too

Eastern Lake was opened by the county. It has not broken out naturally in probably four years. In the fifty years I have been observing Eastern Lake the salinity has never dropped to the point where it has wiped out entire species of plants and wildlife, as it has now. The sawgrass that was prevelant since the early sixties has been completely replaced by cattails. There is no more mullet and bluecrab. Freshwater invasive plants are now digging in. This is in no way a cycle but a clear change in the ecology of this lake brought upon by the damming of the inlet.

AAbsolute

Don't you like it better this way?

rheffron

Can you put a floating dock on top of your stationary dock?

Smiling JOe

amazing! Must be a miracle of man, because it hasn't rained in the last two days.

Personally, I think that when I hear people talk about normal or abnormal, regarding nature, I think that they are too short-sighted. These lakes have been around for thousands of years without man doing anything. What we tend to think of as normal or abnormal regarding these lakes is less than fifty years, and that is almost a point on a time line of the life of these lakes. Relax, and let the lakes do what they do. Go watch TV or something.

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NotDeadYet

The weed is not invasive, the sand that was dumped after Ivan is long gone, the salt water species will return some day, low salinity is not bad, the cattails are probably living on fertilizer. I second SJ, there must be something interesting on tv.

Lake View Too

TV is nothing but bail-out, bail-out, bail-out...I want to rant about something!

AAbsolute

I remember reading in Prominence's PUD application and Environmental Impact Doc's that they had a small coastal dune lake. The Prominence parcel completely surrounded the CDL therefore there were no property owners fronting its borders beside the developer. It was stated that CDL were a naturally occurring sink hole with borders that change naturally. It was stated that neither the FDEP or Army Corp of Eng. had any jurisdiction and that Prominence could fill it.

I never followed up to see how that item played out.

DuneLaker

Leaving the lake alone is a best practice that should be observed for the good of the lake and the good of our tax dollars. Sit back, relax, take a longer view. BTW, lake has opened naturally a few times over the last four years. Disagree with most of your points. Have been here 50+ years and have a number of friends around here 50+ too that would disagree with your statement. Just think people need to know there is quite a bit of difference of opinion here on a number of the stories that have been thrown around the last several years.

Lake View Too

There is much difference in opinion. In a perfect world, I'd be much happier to say just let it be, but I, unfortunately, have to show some empathy for less fortunate property owners. The lake has broken out naturally a few times but these are virtually trickles with little backwash. The sawgrass is gone. The mullett and bluecrab are gone. The ecology of the lake is changed.

Smiling JOe

Allow me to adjust your statement above, just slightly, to read, "The ecology of the lake is changing." Everything in our environment is changing, it always has and always will. Nothing is permanent, not even the sand that Worth Williams dumped beside the lake.

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DuneLaker

Indeed, the ecology of the lake is changing. While I was the Lake Watch person for the lake, the salinity even had a 10% reading around 2003 well before any of the storms and other porported activity. I miss the croakers that used to be around when I was a teenager. Flounder were getting in shorter supply before 2004, too. Changes, changes. Used to not have grass spurs or lawn grass in the dunes or around lake either. Used to not have sprinklers hitting lake or runoff from sprinklers draining into lake from across 30A such as the Southern Shores Building. Some houses have always flooded, were built in a flood plain or have been blown away by past storms. Should we keep bailing them out?

SWGB

You keep saying the bluecrab are gone. Care to tell the 7 I've caught in my trap in the past week, or perhaps you could tell the 8 we counted at the outfall last Friday that prompted us to get a trap.

I have to ask about these "less fortunate property owners". Other than the ones in Lake Pointe who is having a problem with the lake's level?

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Lake View Too

I am not so rigid in my view that I cannot amend some of my past statements. There was a one time event this summer when hurricane Gustaf brushed past us, a day after the inlet was opened by the county, and a great amount of salt water was blown into the lake. This seems to have knocked down the widgeon grass, helped the sawgrass make a comeback, and have given the bluecrabs a chance.

The salinity was at two parts per thousand in this summer as opposed to 23 parts per thousand in '05. It appears from this event that the restoration of salinity to it's "normal" level was a good thing. From my understanding, salinity levels have only been measured since the late 90's, so we will have to use anecdotal information to deduce levels before then. In the five decades I have observed the lake there have been no incidents of "invasive" plants, and I have seen no decline in the sawgrass until the last two years.

The phragmites (bamboo-like weeds) are possibly invasive species. There are two varieties and a sample is now being tested to see if we are getting the invasive kind. The widgeon grass (scum-like blossoms) are not technically an invasive species. It is simply gross, obnoxious, smelly, and seems to create pockets of stagnant water which would suggest great mosquitoe-breeding grounds. Both of these weeds thrive on freshwater.

All this suggests that the lake would be at it's healthiest if it stayed brackish with a periodic influx of saltwater. Aerial photography of the inlet flood plain before and after Hurricane Dennis provides convincing proof that Worth William's filldirt is not "long gone" but was blown into the mouth of the inlet by Dennis. You can see this sandbar right now. This obstruction is preventing the inlet from ever breaking out with enough gusto to "heal" itself.

While I do understand the "do nothing" feelings that abound, most of the residents around the lake feel that a one time restoration of the lagoon that use to be present at the mouth of the inlet would be the best way to restore the health of the inlet and the lake.

The water level is a sympton of the inability of the inlet to heal itself. There are residents in Lake Pointe, Lakewood, and South Lake Drive who would welcome a return to the average lake levels of the past fifty years. I would like to see the salinity levels return to a healthy level to preserve the unique quality of this lake. This cannot occur when the lake stays three feet higher than the Gulf.

Smiling JOe

Whoa! stop the boat right there. Salinity levels were up in 2005 because the storms of 2004 and 2005 pushed the Gulf water into the lakes. It wasn't just the "normal" readings in 2005. When the storms, a few months ago, pushed into the lakes, salinity increased again. It is a natural process. The salt water is heavier than the fresh and will tend to remain more around the point of entry from the Gulf, and the water on the bottom will be saltier than that at the top of the lakes. When the water level rises enough to break out into the Gulf, the saltier water is the first to roll out into the Gulf.

I really wish that people would stop trying to "fix" nature, as the way they say it on a certain day. What makes a "healthy" lake? I certainly don't think that humans know the true answer, so let's stop pretending. People who own property around the lake are pitching the idea that they know what makes a healthy lake, yet they are the very ones who probably contribute more to the human manipulation of the lakes. Life is dynamic. Change is the only thing that is certain. Please, everyone, throw away your "no-grow" boxes and let's embrace the ever-changing world around us.

One last thing, regardless of Worth Williams' actions of dumping sand, let's stop blaming Worth for the Lake not opening. I say this only after observing all of our Coastal Dune Lakes, which have huge hills to climb before breaking out into the Gulf. Surely, Worth Williams cannot be to blame for all of the lakes not opening, can he? Step back, take a deep breath, and let it go.

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hnooe

Thanks Joe--I started this thread, and will end it on this note...What I have learned has been succinctly worded by YOU! I have learned...in short " don't try to fix nature, and embrace the ever changing world around us," it is beautiful!!

My investment (the dock) is under water--so what!--it is still in tact, hasn't prevented me from getting in my kayak, and I thank God I live on a rare coastal dune lake! I am very lucky.

scooterbug44

I think people tend to forget that there is no constant or norm for water levels. We can track the highest levels and build above them, but that only works until Mother Nature decides to change it.

I just don't understand why the folks on the coastal lakes don't have adjustable or floating docks - everywhere else in the country people either have floating docks, adjustable docks, or build them WAY above the high water mark.

There are many things going on that affect the water composition and there are certainly many things people are doing that damage/affect the lakes, wildlife, plantlife etc. and that they need to STOP doing, but unlike adding pollutants or fill, high/low water is a natural fact of life.

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