Who: Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council members, Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board members and staff
What: The Council and the District will mark the completion of the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration project.
When: Friday, May 29, 2009 at 10 a.m.
Where: Coleman Landing
Why: The $28.3 million project was completed in November 2008. The 10-year project was designed to restore Lake Panasoffkee’s historic fish bedding areas, restore the historic lake shoreline and improve navigation of the third largest lake in west-central Florida. Approximately 8.3 million cubic yards of sediment was removed from over 1,744 acres of lake area. Since the 1940s, 920 acres of open-water habitat has been lost to vegetation encroachment.
Members of the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council will be recognized during the ceremony and the public boat ramp and park at Coleman Landing will be named after Evan A. “Billy” Merritt and David C. Hanson. Boat tours will follow the ceremony.
District Contact: Robyn Felix, 800-423-1476, ext. 4770
Directions: Take I-75 to exit 321 (C.R. 470), travel east to Sumterville, turn left onto U.S. 301 to Coleman, turn left at the traffic light in Coleman onto West Warm Springs Ave. (C.R. 514). Go west on C.R. 514 until you cross over I-75. The parking area is on the left. Transportation will be provided to Coleman Landing.
Lake Panasoffkee Restoration project
In 1998, the state Legislature created the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council to develop a restoration plan for the lake. Since then, the Council has been reporting back to the Legislature on an annual basis providing progress reports on the restoration plan’s development and implementation.
The 10-year project was designed to restore Lake Panasoffkee’s historic fish bedding areas, restore the historic lake shoreline and improve navigation of the third largest lake in west-central Florida.
Dredging began in December 2000 with the Coleman Landing Pilot Project and was complete in November 2008.
The Lake Panasoffkee restoration plan, managed by the District, was implemented in four steps:
•Step One: Coleman Landing Pilot Project
•Step Two: Dredging to the hard bottom of the lake
•Step Three: Removal of eastside emergent vegetation
•Step Four: Cleaning out the residential canals
Approximately 8.3 million cubic yards of sediment was removed from over 1,744 acres of lake area. Since the 1940s, 920 acres of open-water habitat has been lost to vegetation encroachment.
The project funding for the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Project administered by the District, on behalf of the Restoration Council, was $28.3 million. Funding was provided by multiple partners which included the State of Florida, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the District's Withlacoochee River Basin Board and Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Transportation. Sumter County was the lead entity in the canal cleanout component of the project.
Lake Panasoffkee is one of the District’s SWIM Program priority water bodies and is designated as an Outstanding Florida Water by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.