By Bryan Nelson
Hopefully by the time The Apopka Chief is out for delivery on Friday, the city will have the final signature from Lumen Company and the County can get the permit approval from St. Johns Water Management District to start pumping down the lakes in the Pidemont-Wekiwa area.
This permit will allow the city of Apopka to pump down the Piedmont-Wekiwa lakes several feet with the excess water going into a drainage well in Lake Page on the west side of Piedmont Wekiwa Road. There will be four pumping stations that will move water from each of the lakes.
The first pumping water is from Border to Jackson, the second from Jackson to McDade, the third from McDade to Piedmont and the fourth across Piedmont-Wekiwa into Lake Page, where the drainage well is located.
Because we were given 24-hour-a-day pumping approval, the process to remove excess water should take less than 60 days. This short-term solution will help us get through the 2025 hurricane season, and then we can focus on the design and construction for the permanent pumping stations that will not only lower the lake levels but give the city much needed reclaimed water for the thirsty lawns in the city.
The current level of Border Lake is 77.4 feet of elevation. All of the Piedmont-Wekiwa lakes of Lake Jackson, Piedmont Lake, Lake McDade, Blue Lake, Lake Pleasant and Lake Page are from 76.1 to 80.8 feet of elevation.
Lake Cortez, at an elevation of 56.6 feet, has always taken on the excess water from Border Lake through a stormwater pipe that is positioned under Highway 436. Had the county not stopped the excess water from flowing into the much lower elevation, the flooding would have been in the Lake Cortez basin and not the Piedmont-Wekiwa basin.
We understand, because three houses which are below the 100-year flood plain would have been underwater, but by reducing the flow to Lake Cortez, the excess water is diverted to the shopping center and homes east and west of Piedmont-Wekiwa and south of 436.
In the letter that I penned to Mayor Jerry Demings, I am asking for the county to contribute 47.5%, Seminole County 35%, FDOT 8.7% and Apopka 27.7% of the cost to complete the long-term solution of pumping water from Border Lake to our public services complex on Cleveland Street.
These percentages are based on the land area of the Border Lake and Lake Cortez watershed basins. With the $4.5 million in grants that the city has acquired from state and federal governments, the out-of-pocket costs to all interested parties should be manageable and help alleviate the fears of neighborhood flooding in the area.
We look forward to partnering with our local and state agencies to make the temporary and permanent solution for Border Lake a reality.
