BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE— Flooding fears were expressed directly to Bradford County commissioners Sept. 15, along with complaints about local roads.
Mary Bowes was one of many lake dwellers in the audience. A 20-year resident, said she has found Sampson Lake unnavigable with the overgrowth of grass and weeds around the lake banks, which is also obstructing flow from the lake and causing water to rise on her property.
“I’ve been to the Sampson River in the past. The entrance was clear and beautiful. Now it is almost hidden by the grass and weeds, which makes it difficult to even find the entrance to the river,” she said.
She described the Sampson Lake of the past with sandy beaches and crystal clear water, comparing it to Kingsley Lake.
“We swam and enjoyed the many beautiful turtles, trophy bass, giant apple snails, huge freshwater clams, and many boating and water sports. Now the grass appears to be growing faster and thicker along the sides of the lake probably due to the acidic discharges from the alligator farm, sewage treatment plant and Chemours retention ponds,” Bowes said.
“Anything you do to clean up Sampson Lake and protect homeowners from flooding will improve Bradford County and open the door to many people moving here to enjoy the pristine water and sandy beaches,” she said.
Amy Morie and Paul Still were present to speak on behalf of the Bradford Soil and Water Conservation, which has been evaluating the risk of flooding by monitoring Alligator Creek, Sampson and Crosby lakes, and Sampson River. The presentation included photographs of conditions including overgrowth and blockages that inhibit flow and could help cause or exacerbate flooding given enough rainfall or another storm, like 2017’s Irma.
Even after several days without rain, Sampson Lake had only fallen two inches, Still said, because flow from the lake was being restricted. They even documented flow from Sampson back into Lake Crosby.
Discharge from Chemours mining and Suwannee River Water Management District’s Edwards Bottomlands wetlands restoration project were also criticized.
The group did not just come with complaints, however, but some solutions, including:
1. Remove the channel bank vegetation between the Alligator Creek Northeast 17th Avenue bridge and the Stake city limits.
2. Remove the vegetation at the point where Lake Sampson flows into the Sampson Canal.
3. Remove the blockages between C.R. 225 and the CSX trestle.
4. Form a flood mitigation subcommittee of the Local Mitigation Strategies group run by Emergency Management.
5. Establish who will be responsible for maintenance of Alligator Creek in the city of Starke.
6. Establish easements for major elements of the drainage system.
7. Work with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Chemours to lower the amount of water Chemours discharges during major rain events.
8. Evaluate the use of an operable water control structure to prevent high water in Sampson from flowing into Lake Crosby.
Morie mentioned the Soil and Water board is monitoring other areas in the county, but Commissioner Kenny Thompson wanted to know specifically about the northwest and Water Oak Creek. The creek is supposedly being studied, but the five-year period seems endless for Thompson who said the creek receives twice the inflow of water from Chemours but has not been cleaned out in more than 50 years.
“It’s killing Lawtey, all the way through, the whole northwest. It is killing us,” he said.
Still said Soil and Water is shifting attention to Water Oak Creek and the Alligator Creek near Lawtey since they have an understanding of how the Starke system works. Water Oak Creek is many miles long — a huge job — and he said the water management district is not willing to do the work.
As for the discharge from Chemours to Water Oak Creek, Still said it is not a part of the company’s discharge permit and is not tracked. Soil and Water will be monitoring this as well.
Commissioner Diane Andrews said she and the other commissioners agree with everything the Soil and Water board members brought forth. She questioned the cooperativeness of the water management district. Still said he has tried unsuccessfully for years to get the district to perform flow measurements.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take,” he said.
Commissioner Carolyn Spooner there are areas in her northeast district where even a light rain causes roads to washout and endanger public safety.
“We don’t have a lake to collect the water. People’s properties collect the water,” she said.
Still called for additional attention for these issues and support in bringing them to the water management district and other agencies. He suggested the sheriff’s Emergency Management department.
“I complain a lot to the Suwanee River Water Management District. They don’t listen. Somebody other than me has to begin approaching them and saying, ‘You need to fix this.’”
