LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — On Friday in Lake County, a $7 million taxpayer-funded plant that cleans the dirty water flowing out of Lake Apopka will be shut down.
It's the third time the county's nutrient reduction facility will be forced to close.
Charles Clark of the Lake County Water Authority chose not to point fingers.
"You can't blame the lack of rain on people, and we can't treat water that isn't there," Clark said.
Three years ago, the authority opened the nutrient reduction facility, along the canal that runs from Lake Apopka to Lake Beauclair.
Dirty water flows in from Lake Apopka and it is injected with aluminum sulfate at the plant to create the finished product.
But for the third time in the last 36 months, the plant will be shutdown, which is a negative result of an order from the St. John's River Water Management District.
"We wish we had more water to manage," said Hank Largin of the St. John's River Water Management.
Largin said water flow through the Apopka-Beauclair lock and dam will be stopped to protect the water level in Lake Apopka.
With little rain over the last three months, the level has dropped.
"Eleven inches on Lake Apopka, six inches on the super pond lakes," Largin said.
Continuing the flow of water would lower the level even more and significantly degrade water quality, officials said, but stopping the flow means the pricey Lake County plant won't clean a drop.
"It's regrettable, but hey, we can't make it rain," said Clark.
Rain is needed, and county officials said they are wary about what they wish for.
But some said a minor tropical depression would do the job nicely.