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Swiftmud drops road project at preserveBy ALEX LEARY © St. Petersburg Times, published January 10, 2001 INVERNESS -- Facing a small but vocal bloc of critics, Swiftmud has abruptly withdrawn a plan to build an expensive road to access islands at Potts Preserve. "We did feel strongly about it, but we realized how much of an issue it was becoming," said Bruce Wirth, director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District's resource management department. His comments came after a Monday afternoon meeting with the group Taxpayers Outraged Organization for Accountable Representation (TOO FAR). Wirth said: "We thought it would be a benefit for our management, but as a compromise to them and to move on with what we think is a positive project, we said, "Fine, we won't try to push it down anyone's throat.' " TOO FAR, whose displeasure with Swiftmud extends beyond this issue, argued the gravel road, part of a plan to restore water flows, was an unnecessary expense. The group says regulators who need to reach uplands at the 8,507-acre preserve along the Withlacoochee River in northeast Citrus County can use boats. "The more they thought about the road, the less sense it made," said TOO FAR member Wayne Sawyer of Floral City. "It's a good savings to the taxpayers not to have that road put in." Without the road, the project's cost decreases to $240,000 from $350,000,Wirth said. With the road issue out of the way, Swiftmud will likely have an easier time gaining state approval for its plan to restore natural water flows at the sprawling preserve, a mosaic of hardwood hammocks, pasture lands, marshes and herbaceous plants. The hydrological restoration plan has been submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, both of which must approve. The work, which would take months to complete, seeks to reverse land changes made by a developer many years ago and restore wetland habitats and better recharge an aquifer. In the 1950s and 1960s, Roy Dee divided Potts from the Tsala Apopka Chain of Lakes by constructing miles of dikes. He dug trenches to drain wetlands so he could graze cattle in a habitat best suited for fish, alligators and wading birds. Swiftmud plans to remove the dikes and fill in the ditches, which could help restore water flow between the Hernando Pool and the preserve. Before this week, the proposal included an access road. The path would have been at ground level, meaning it would be covered with water at times, but would have allowed trucks to get to the islands. Cost aside, critics said the road would obstruct water movement between the islands. "This is where the little fish and grass shrimp congregate," said Chester Bradshaw, a longtime advocate of dike removals. "That's the bottom of your food chain; the little creatures feed the big fish and they in turn spawn and restock the entire lake system." Bradshaw contends that the restoration plan does not adequately remove the water impediments to the natural lake bottom. Swiftmud will revisit that issue as well and is making arrangements to dispatch a soil expert to the contested areas.
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