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Salt Water in Eastern Lake

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For what's its worth until Treefrog gets back to you. The salinity of the lakes varies quite a bit. The gulf has about a 35 percent salinity level. I've tested the lake as a former LakeWatch volunteer and have had readings from 10 percent even several years ago to about 22 percent. The level can also vary whether the salinity level is tested at one and a half feet depth to about six feet. The outfall if open will obviously usually have a much higher salinity reading than say the far northern end up in the reeds and marsh. The Coastal Dune Lakes are really a widely varied ecosystem that just adds to their unique character and makes them one of the wonders of the world. It is what it is. And I think that is a good thing if left to its natural process.
 
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Dig Out Waste of Money and Wrong

Eastern Lake has been dug out by the county (9-08). Suggest you go take a look for yourself at this large invasive action. Note the large piles of sand. This is similar to what the county has done several times over the past four years. The impact of this digging and subsequent movement of this sand could adversly alter the natural opening of the lake as it has the past several years. It is perhaps these false dune piles that some people remember and attach erroneously to other events. The lake should not have been dug out most recently before Gustav. It was ready to open on its own and would have most likely opened in the direction of its natural path preparing the way for future openings. Analysis of recent storms on other dune lakes and their outfalls should have been studied. Where and how the lake is dug out is unconscionable. Surreptitous activity and the large amount of Walton County, state and maybe federal money that has been spent should be revealed. I would imagine several hundred dollars for gas has been spent on just this week's activities alone. And to what end?
 
The newest twist to this saga is the guy to the west has just put up a ton of fencing all along this huge new ditch from his house to the gulf. I can't tell you how much of his fencing, palm trees, irrigation pipes, etc. I have dug out of the lake over the past 10 years that just gets washed into the lake and gulf. Unbelievable. I think this out-of-county guy keeps this rental/investment property supplied with lumber he's trying to get rid of from his business. He was caught on film once having piling drilled by someone in the middle of the outfall. There is a provision for nothing to be put in within 50 feet of the outfall. I guess it would be expecting too much for any rules that are actually good for the lake to be followed.
 
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No, I do believe there is and was some interest in sale of the east to divert it from this guy to the west. The property owner to the west, as early as Hurricane Opal, got a bobcat out and pushed sand around. There were those who dug out the lake to the east on someone else's private property. This diverted the lake from its natural flow to the west, long before Hurricane Ivan. That is a false time landmark. The earliest we might go back to get a semblance of a natural outflow would be about 10 years ago, before some who had a lot of time on their hands took to digging out the lake to the east with reckless abandon, IMO.
 
Board meetings

The Coastal Dune Lake Advisory Board Meetings are open to the public and occur the last fourth thursday of every month at 9 am. We would hope many more of the public becomes involved.
 
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