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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #346 |
| Lake Istokpoga Residential Canal Maintenance |
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| Requester: |
Clell Ford, Lakes Manager |
Organization: |
Highlands County Natural Resources Department |
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| Project Title: |
Lake Istokpoga Residential Canal Maintenance |
Date Submitted |
1/7/2004 9:44:04 AM |
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| Sponsors: |
Alexander |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| Lake Istokpoga is part of the Lake Okeechobee watershed and is implicated as providing excess nutrients to Okeechobee. A watershed management master plan for Istokpoga that will decrease nutrient releases is being prepared - this project, to perform residential canal maintenance for Istokpoga, is a keyston component for protecting Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. |
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| Recipient: |
Highlands County Board of County Commissioners |
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Contact: |
Clell Ford, Lakes Manager |
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600 South Commerce Ave. Room B233 |
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Contact Phone: |
(863) 402-6545 |
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Sebring 33870-3809 |
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Contact email: |
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| Counties: |
Highlands |
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| Gov't Entity: |
Yes |
Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
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| Project Description: |
| Lake Istokpoga, located near the town of Sebring in Highlands County, is Florida's fifth largest lake. A management strategy for Lake Istokpoga, to improve lake level flucuation and reduce nutrient inflow, is being developed to focus on improving lake water quality and the ability of the lake to maintain good water quality. Lake Istokpoga, as part of the Lake Okeechobee watershed, has been implicated as providing excess nutrients to Lake Okeechobee. Work to support development of TMDL's for the Lake, including development of a watershed phosphorus budget, assessment of the phosphorus storage capacity of the sediments and intensive water quality monitoring are addressing watershed and lake nutrient conditions. An economic impact evaluation of the Lake is under way to provide all stakeholders with a clearer picture of the economic monetary and ecological value of Lake Istokpoga to the State of Florida. Highlands County, working with the South Florida Water Management District, the US Army Corps of Engineers, will identify options to enhance water level flucuations to allow Lake Istokpoga to function more as a natural lake. However, the residential aclcess canals around the Lake's periphery are in need of dredging to maintain access to the lake for all users. A three-phase process for maintaining or improving navigation in Lake Istokpoga from residential canals is proposed. This project will improve naviagation to Lake Istokpoga to ensure that lake access from canals is not imparied when lake elevations reach 37" NGVD, providing a minimum of 4 feet of water depth for navigation. |
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| Is this a water project as described in Chapter 2002-291, Laws of Florida? |
No |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| Increase lake access during periods of low water, which will allow the frequency of low water occurrences to increase, improving water quality as part of the Lake Istopkoga watershed management master plan. |
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$100,000 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$910,000 |
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| Request has been made to fund: |
Operations |
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| What type of match exists for this project? |
Local |
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Cash Amount |
$ |
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In-kind Amount |
$25,000 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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No |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$810,000 |
To Fund: |
Operations, non-recurring operations |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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Yes |
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Agency |
Environmental Protection, Department Of |
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| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
No |
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| Is there a documented need for this project? |
Yes |
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Documentation: |
Lake Okeechobee Watershed Protection Plan CERP |
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| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
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Yes |
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Hearing Body: |
Highlands County Board of County Commissioners |
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Hearing Meeting Date: |
11/06/2003 |
