Funds okayed to clean up waterways

Swiftmud gives a go-ahead for nearly $3.1-million in funding to improve the water quality of polluted Lake Seminole and the Cross Bayou Canal.

By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 26, 2001

SEMINOLE -- Lake Seminole and Cross Bayou Canal, two urban waterways choking with pollution, have been scheduled for cleanup operations.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly known as Swiftmud, has approved funding for two projects totaling nearly $3.1-million, Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan said.

The Lake Seminole Watershed Pollution Reduction Project is expected to reduce the storm water pollutants entering Lake Seminole and to improve the general water quality, Molligan said.

"Storm water runoff is the No. 1 pollutant now (for urban bodies of water)," Molligan said. "Storm water picks up everything in its path . . . fertilizers, motor oil. If you don't do something to take that out, it degrades the water quality."

The project is part of Pinellas County's $15-million restoration plan for the 864-acre lake.

County engineers say injecting alum, a coagulant, into runoff will force sediment to settle out in ponds before the water reaches Lake Seminole.

Several Florida cities are using alum to clean up urban lakes such as St. Petersburg's Lake Maggiore and Mirror Lake.

The treated storm water will assist in the flushing of Lake Seminole. A dam on the south end of the lake controls the lake level.

The project will be completed in three phases: design and permitting, construction and then monitoring. The first two phases are expected to take 30 months. The final phase will take six months.

Pinellas County and the Pinellas Anclote River Basin Board, an arm of Swiftmud, will split the $2.9-million bill.

Swiftmud also approved funding for phase one of the Cross Bayou Canal Watershed Management Plan. The water quality of the 10.5-mile canal that connects Old Tampa Bay to Boca Ciega Bay is poor, Molligan said.

The goal is to improve water quality in the canal by implementing a two-phase cleanup plan. The first phase, estimated to last two years, will provide basic hydrologic, survey, chemical and biological data needed for the second planning phase.

The county and Swiftmud will share the funding for phase one, which is estimated to cost $195,000.

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