DEP Pushes Peace River Restoration Forward

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today the initial steps for restoration of the Peace River basin are already underway. This month, DEP adopted specific pollutant load reductions, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), for the Winter Haven Southern Chain of Lakes, near the headwaters of the Peace River. This is the first action called for in DEP’s recently released Peace River Basin Resource Management Plan.

“Actions, not words, will improve the Peace River basin,” said Mimi Drew, DEP Deputy Secretary for Regulatory Programs and Energy. “Achieving the pollutant load reductions will require on-the-ground projects to reduce pollution, and we will work with area stakeholders to make them happen.”

The Winter Haven Chain of Lakes drains to Peace Creek, which flows into the Peace River, making pollutant load reductions to the lakes beneficial to downstream river water quality. DEP identified eight lakes in the southern chain that do not meet water quality standards for nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). Besides their immediate impact on the lakes, much of this pollution ultimately ends up in the Peace River. Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus can lower oxygen levels, increase algae, and upset the natural balance of plant and animal life.

The nutrient load reductions necessary to meet the TMDLs will demand better management of the urban stormwater runoff from roads, parking lots and fertilized lawns that surround the lakes. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the City of Winter Haven and the Southwest Florida Water Management District are working together to address the problem through better stormwater treatment and management systems as well as the construction of man made wetlands that will further clean the stormwater before it enters the lakes.

DEP’s Peace River plan proposes other actions to improve water quality throughout the basin. DEP is working with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and area local governments to restore flows by recreating some of the extensive wetlands and interconnected lakes once part of the historical headwaters that were cut off and drained for agricultural and mining purposes. When completed, these collective projects will increase the amount of water flowing to the Peace River and improve its quality.

The Peace River Resource Management Plan is available at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/mines/index.htm. Specific information about the TMDLs adopted for the Winter Haven Southern Chain of Lakes is available at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/tmdl/final_tmdl.htm.