PC

Just watched Walton county open up eastern lake, pretty cool to watch. Looks like the wind is pushing all the water to the west side of the beach from the lake. Probably going to be some peeved people down that way on the beach.

Snerd

Why would the county open up the lake? Years ago it seemed normal but I thought they have since figured out that the dune lakes are best left to their own.

Smiling JOe

The County got a permit to open anytime the water in Eastern Lake rises to a certain level. They no longer have to apply for a permit and wait. Typically, it breaks open if you give it enough time. They claim that they open if for "safety" (really sanitary) reasons, since the County won't make all the homeowners around the lake convert from septic tanks to sewer connections.

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DuneLaker

I will let these pictures speak for themselves. I will post 5. The first was taken on Sept. 15, 2009. The last four were today, September 17. It had rained a lot. More is forecast. It will take me a minute to get the pictures in. I was away from the beach this afternoon or would have posted earlier.


Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Eastern Lake and Gulf of Mexico


Thursday, September 17, 2009. Eastern Lake.


Thursday, September 17, 2009. Eastern Lake.


Thursday, September 17, 2009


Thursday, September 17, 2009. Eastern Lake.

wayward soul

i only see three

Lynnie

Wow, that's really too bad. The septic tanks, sanitary issues (??????) and the tractors on the beach.

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Who is Lynnie?? ~~~~~~~Signed, All Y'all

DuneLaker

I only know how to post one at a time. All five are up now. Besides, I just got home and needed a drink to post this.

DuneLaker

yep.

gardening1970

Dunelaker - thank you for your diligent efforts in posting the pics.

LazyDaze

::::::shaking my head in sadness:::::::::

Our coastal dune lakes should be protected, and the county should never have allowed septic systems to be built around them. Especially the in the numbers that they did.

Now - they need to take the steps necessary to correct that mistake, not take nature into their own hands with tractors and manually opening the lakes.

-LazyDaze

PC

Looks like they just opened up draper lake and it has spreaded west towards eastern lake, what a nice tea colored tinge the ocean has now and on our last day at the beach to, figures

Dunelaker, we must have saw each other yesterday at eastern lake.

Smiling JOe

Draper Lake isn't like to be opened by the County, Eastern Lake would be much further east of it. Deer Lake would be closest to Eastern Lake and it is slightly west of Deer Lake, but the County doesn't have a permit to open it, so if it opened, it was probably just due to nature.

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SWGB

Deer Lake does a pretty good job on it's own since it's outflow area hasn't been tampered with.

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TreeFrog

Eastern will open on its own, too. I agree with DuneLaker, wish they would just let it do that.

Does anybody really know if the county actually monitors the lake level and opens it on their own decision?

I've always assumed they opened it when someone called because their dock was underwater. Wrong reason, but permissible in the current system, it seems.

<rant mode on>
Am I the only person who thinks it shows a lack of common sense to build a non-floating dock on a lake that can be expected to fluctuate in level? And a second offense for the county to cater to the previously-mentioned owner?
<rant mode off>

lauraisren

the color is from tannins, totally natural, just like a black water river

SWGB

TreeFrog I totally agree with you.

From what I understand the county only opens it when the lake hits the trigger point and someone calls.

What still kills me is the constant talk of a budget crisis, but the county will drop everything and send out a whole crew to open the lake because someones dock and/or petunias are threatened by (gasp) water.

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DuneLaker

Merry Christmas! Over the past several months the county has opened and opened and opened Eastern Lake. In the last weeks the result was in a strong bend to the East with almost cliff like sand walls. Last night, Mother Nature came in, filled it all in and pushed sand and moved the opening back west. Nice walk on beach this morning. Waves are still pounding. Even with low tide some wash over into lake. Down side is with rain and wave action, some will be calling for another forced opening. The trigger point really needs to be reviewed and raised, much less followed. The whole process needs to be reviewed, imho. Another odd thing in lake this morning. There was a floating island of fragmata (sp). It was up by the outfall around 8 a.m. and had moved well into the lake by 8:30a.m. Not sure where it came from or where it will end up.

TreeFrog

Absolutely and completely agreed. They dig it out entirely too often, basically every time it rains.

I often wonder if it wouldn't stay open longer and drain better if it had the natural, winding opening of the other lakes. The straight opening that the county dredges just fills in the next time we have waves at high tide. Maybe we should look into a project to define and cut a more natural opening. And then, just leave it alone for a while and see how it works.

30atelevision

Maybe just leave it alone altogether. Whatever natural activity originated long before BCC.... entirely too often natural occurances are interfrerred with in the name of saving something or altering to mans wishes. The more we mess with nature the less it becomes...... nature

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TreeFrog

That's basically what I'm proposing. But, we already know from experience that the current straight opening will fill and stay blocked for a long time. Leading to yet another call to the county.

Does anyone have any old photos from when Eastern Lake still had its natural outlet?