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ORANGE LAKE’S LAST GASP
One of the finest bass fishing lakes in the
country has been reduced from 12,550 acres to less than 5000 acres
in a few days. Orange Lake, in AlachuaCounty, is now a wetland a few
inches deep. After several years of drought, and a sinkhole that
reopened suddenly last week, the lake started disappearing, as local
residents watched with
sadness.
Orange Lake Draining
2/01 - from boat
ramp
Thousands of bass, catfish, and bream lay dead or
dying, gasping for breath. The
bay at Heagy-Burry park is now a mucky mess, with no access, even by
airboats. (On Jan 13th, 2 men had to be rescued by helicopter when
their airboat got stuck near the park.)
 When the
lake was full, the average depth of the lake was around 8'-9', with
the depth over the sinkhole around 35'. It has been 45 years since
the lake has drained this low, when the sinkhole had first opened.
Residents then threw old cars and debris in the hole, anything to
stop the
flow.
Orange Lake Drained
and burning 5/01 - same view
as above
Lake
Lochloosa's
marinas are high and dry, at least 6' above the waterline. With the
drought now in its third year, fish camp owners, fishing guides and
marinas have had to close their doors and find work elsewhere. The
days of catching 12 lb bass have long disappeared, along with
the lake. The recreational use of the two lakes contributed almost
$3.5 million in sales to the area. In the 80. s, the total was
$6.4 million, according to the St. John's River Water Management
District Report.
It is
natural for lakes to rise and fall, due to rainfall (or lack
thereof), and evaporation. It is sometimes also good for a lake to
dry to get rid of the many feet of muck and hydrilla that
accumulates and hinders fish breeding. Nature has a way of going
through cycles, but geologists say there is no guarantee that Orange
Lake will ever get back to its normal size. And due to the drought,
and the fact we are almost 30" under normal rainfall (which means
even if we get our normal rainfall this year, we will still be 30"
under...), the aquifer has dropped so much, the weight of the lake
broke the plug above the sinkhole causing it to open. If the aquifer
was at its normal levels, the pressure would be more even, and
maintain the lake
level.
This
catastrophic drop in Orange Lake is not just the drought, or
evaporation, or diverting part of the lake to other sources, or the
opening of the sinkhole and the dropping of the aquifer, but a total
of all these things happening at once. I have lived near this lake
for 18 years, fishing, canoeing, boating and photographing it's many
changing seasons. To watch this ecosystem die, with its thousands of
birds, bald eagles, ospreys, alligators, turtles, snakes and fish,
is more heartbreaking than anyone can know. For now, nature will
take its
course.
There are no
plans for intervention. Whether this is good or bad remains to be
seen. Do you notice how we dimiss these occurances as aberrations,
forgetting the aberrations are becoming the norm, and finding the
aberrations are becoming more frequent, and at a faster pace? We are
not blameless,
either.
Welcome to
Orange Prairie....
Please feel free to respond to any of the
articles, and if you have news you wish to share, please email me at
pgoldberg@goldenimages-photo-scuba.com
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Orange Lake at Sinkhole
5/01
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