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Clearing away the muck islands

They may look like a normal part of the landscape, but tussocks can destroy a lake.

By DAN DeWITT
Published March 8, 2005

SPRING LAKE - Alan Beville stood at the boat ramp at Lake Lindsey and pointed to what looked like a peninsula covered with a robust growth of woody weeds.

"See that? That's a tussock. Down in South Florida, they actually call tussocks "false land,"' said Beville, a supervisor with Texas Aquatic Harvesting of Lake Wales.

Clearing away tussocks, the name for floating islands of vegetation and muck, is essential for the long-term health of lakes, said Beville and Edwin Roman, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"Tussocks take up space in the lake, and as more of them pop up, slowly but surely your lake starts filling up," Roman said.

The commission, which maintains lakes throughout the state, is paying Texas Aquatics $125,000 to clear the muck islands at Lake Lindsey, north of Brooksville. The project will continue for at least another month, during which time the boat ramp will be closed to the public.

As the job began last week, it seemed more brutal than beneficial.

An aluminum barge fitted with sawlike blades buzzed like a low-flying airplane. It nosed into a tussock that had settled on the south edge of the lake, cutting a swath of muck, along with the roots and stalks of an aquatic plant called pickerelweed.

A conveyor deposited the debris into a cage - called the "belly" - in the middle of the barge. At the boat ramp, another conveyor emptied the vessel's cargo into a waiting truck.

The truck driver, Tom Fertic, also was responsible for herding the dripping piles of plants onto the conveyor. Sometimes, he said, he sees fish, snakes "and these big old eels" carried away with the muck.

But that destruction is minor compared with the long-term damage done by the tussocks, Roman said.

These form when rotting vegetation builds up on the floor of the lake, Roman said. Once this floats to the surface, it can support additional plant life, predominantly pickerelweed.

These choke off the water's dissolved oxygen, which can lead to massive fish kills. Especially vulnerable are the "littoral areas," Roman said, the shallow waters along the shore that are rich in aquatic wildlife and essential for spawning.

Tussocks, driven by wind, also can ram docks and clog canals.

"They're like asteroids," Beville said. "They move all over the place.

The work has become especially important in recent decades, because the water levels of many bodies of water, including Lake Lindsey, have been stabilized by surrounding road beds and culverts. Both extreme low water and high water can get rid of the tussocks naturally, Roman said.

Lake Lindsey was last cleared years ago. A longer period might pass before the clearing crews return again, Roman said, because the equipment now clears a thicker layer of material.

Beville estimated his crew will clear 5 acres of floating muck from the lake by the time the job is done.

"That means 5 more acres of open water," he said.

To Fertic, that will mean he will handle more than dozen truckloads and up to 80 tons of muck every day.

"This is pretty fun," he said, throwing his weight behind a errant heap of muck on the conveyor, "other than it being work."

--Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352 754-6116 or dewitt@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 8, 2005, 16:52:55]