ASTATULA, Fla.,None — St. Johns River water managers have made an unpopular decision that shuts down an expensive taxpayer-funded project.
Along County Road 48 in Astatula, taxpayers spent $7 million on a system that collects dirty water flowing out of Lake Apopka and cleans it before sending it into neighboring Lake Beauclair. But for the second year in a row, the project is at a dead stop.
Mike Perry of the Lake County Water Authority said it's all in the hands of the St. Johns River Water Management District.
"We're sort of at their mercy in terms of how they want to move water through the system," Perry said.
The real blame is on Mother Nature because Central Florida been short on rain for more than two years. To prepare for the dry winter ahead, officials ordered the closing of the dam at the Apopka-Beauclair canal.
Water managers say the closing helps maintain Lake Apopka's water level and prevents sediment in the lake from being stirred up. But the move also prevents Lake County from cleaning 4 billion gallons' worth.
When this facility was built three years ago, officials said they had no idea it would ever sit idle.
But the result is that in its first three years of operation, the water cleaning facility will have been closed for nearly seven months.
"Although the water quality in the lakes downstream are not as bad as it used to be, they're nowhere near as good as they could be," Perry said.
The water cleaning operation won't reopen until St. Johns reopens the dam sometime next spring.