Eastern Lake Management Plan Meeting and Discussion

[Caroling]

I'm tending more and more to think that letting the lake be as natural as it can is best. Thanks for your insights, Smiling Joe.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Caroling, were you of a different mindset in the past, regarding letting the Lake be as natural as it can be? I've read your earlier posts, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this more recent Worth Williams incident of importing sand, and many of the homeowners in the Eastern Lake area wanting the Lake cut open. I know you monitor the Lake closely on a regular basis, and that you live in the beautiful area of Eastern Lake, so please share your thoughts with us. What do you see happening?

Most of the complaints I've been reading in the paper either address the lack of their ability to catch crabs and fish, or they say the water threatens their property. I never hear about what is good for the Lake. The chatter is always about that which is good for the people. These Coastal Dune Lakes are so very rare, and I dislike the thought of people spreading Nitrogen via lawn fertilizers, into the Lake, and all of the focus being on what is good for the yards of Eastern Lake home owners.

One thing which I notice is so un-natural about the process the County uses when cutting open the Lakes is that they dig a straight line trench to the Gulf (the cheapest way and perhaps it has the least impact on the surrounding area). However, most of the Lakes which I've seen open to the Gulf naturally, rarely follow a straight line. They typically snake back and forth, with some parts building up sand and other parts being deeper, creating different habitats for wildlife living in the outflows. This snake like path might also help filter out more goodies from the Lakes, as well as lessen the erosion on the path to the Gulf. Google Earth has examples of this, and I have plenty of photos also showing the same thing.

 

[Caroling]

I went to meetings sponsored by the Eastern Lake Neighborhood Association, the South Walton Community Council, the Coastal Dune Lakes Advisory Board, the Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners to educate myself. I didn't go to all of them and I'm not an expert. I'm a lake lover. I grew up with lakes in Minnesota and when I came here, that's how I viewed Eastern Lake. I quickly found out that I want to treat Eastern Lake like wilderness, not farmland. In Minnesota the lakes were tamed. Here I want them wild. My view of Worth Williams is "Huh?". How can someone who has destructively broken the law, still have legal rights? I believe he should lose his property. In kindergarden, when you mess up the sandbox, there are consequences. My view of his illegal sand is to let it go. Ester, the spirit of Eastern Lake can handle it if you give her respect. When the county plows a trench, the sand seems to fall back in. You see the outlet gradually snaking its way, meandering toward the Gulf now that it has been left to its natural ways for awhile. I agree that the edge, outlet and the whole lake should be protected and not manipulated for property owners. It is not a lake, it is a rare Coastal Dune Lake and should be honored, valued, studied, and promoted. It is precious and we are the stewards. If we don't care for Eastern Lake, who will? It is up to us.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I sense your passion for the Lakes in your post, Caroling.

 

[Kurt]

Seems like it's one lake where construction happened to close to the outflow for meandering to be free. When the beach was wider there it had more room to do its thing once it cleared the houses. Maybe adding sand to the beach will help in the long run.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Maybe adding sand to the beach will help in the long run.

I'm not sure I understand your statement. How do you think that adding sand to the beach will help the outflow of Eastern Lake in the long run?

 

[Caroling]

I had not heard the opinion that adding sand is a good thing. It highlights the fact that we don't know conclusively what we have done and whether it is good or bad, since it is possible to look at it from different points of view.

By the way, is there a good word for the connection between lake and Gulf? Inlet works one way. Outflow, outlet, outfall etc. work the other way. But what if the connection is known to flow both ways from time to time? Is there a name for that?

 

[Smiling JOe]

By the way, is there a good word for the connection between lake and Gulf? Inlet works one way. Outflow, outlet, outfall etc. work the other way. But what if the connection is known to flow both ways from time to time? Is there a name for that?

Good question. I usually refer to them in general terms as "outflow," only because that is the typically the case when the water is moving. In the recent past, the Coastal Lakes seem to be outflowing more than inflowing. Why don't you coin a good term for it, and we'll start using it? I guess that reminds us of how rare these lakes are, since there probably isn't a word which describes the inflow/outflow. If you cannot think of a good term, perhaps we could call it the "snake" of the Lake, since they are typically snake-like in shape.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Good question. I usually refer to them in general terms as "outflow," only because that is the typically the case when the water is moving. In the recent past, the Coastal Lakes seem to be outflowing more than inflowing. Why don't you coin a good term for it, and we'll start using it? I guess that reminds us of how rare these lakes are, since there probably isn't a word which describes the inflow/outflow. If you cannot think of a good term, perhaps we could call it the "snake" of the Lake, since they are typically snake-like in shape.

From a coastal engineering perspective, they are called outfall's.

 

[Smiling JOe]

From a coastal engineering perspective, they are called outfall's.

which is similar to the term I use, "outflow," but Caroling is correct, that these rare Coastal Dune Lakes flow both ways, so "outflow" or "outfall," would technically not respect the rareness of the Lakes' ability to flow both ways.