Robyn O. Felix
Southwest Florida Water
Management District

A change to water management guidelines for the Tsala Apopka chain of lakes means that more than 23 million gallons of water per day has been flowing into the Tsala Apopka Lake since Feb. 2.

The Floral City, Inverness and Hernando pools are now receiving equal shares of that Withlacoochee River water.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District changed water control guidelines to try to bring up the levels of the three pools equally. And District Operations personnel began managing the lake system under the new guidelines in January. The Withlacoochee River has risen with the recent wet weather, and on Feb. 2, the District began using river water to fill the lakes.

The guidelines affect the way water from the Withlacoochee River flows into the pools and the way water flows between the pools.

“Historically, the way we’ve managed the water control structures has resulted in the Floral City pool getting Withlacoochee River water before the Inverness and Hernando pools,” said Mike Holtkamp, District Operations Director. “Under the new guidelines all three pools will share the river water equally whenever it is available.”

Under the new guidelines, when levels in the Withlacoochee River and Tsala Apopka lake system permit, the District will open water control structures to send one third of the available river water to each of the three pools. Under the old guidelines, river water would flow only into the Floral City pool until it reached a minimum level, and only then would the District begin to flow river water into the downstream Inverness pool. Once the Inverness pool reached its minimum level, only then would river water flow into the downstream Hernando pool.

“Now we’re trying to manage the Tsala Apopka system in a more equitable way,” said Holtkamp. “Once all three pools have reached their adopted minimum levels, we’ll try to bring up the elevations in the three pools equally, and share river water flows equally.”

As water levels rise in the pools, District Operations personnel will adjust control structures between them to try to balance the pool levels. Rainwater runoff that fills each of the three pools will stay in its pool until the pool reaches its minimum level. Once the pool reaches its minimum level, the District will open structures to try to raise the levels of the pools that haven’t reached their minimum levels.

“Our goal is to be equitable between all competing interests and conserve as much water in the Tsala Apopka system as possible,” said Holtkamp.

The new minimum lake levels were adopted by the District Governing Board in October 2006. The new water management guidelines were developed in 2009, and the District began operating water control structures on the Tsala Apopka system under the new guidelines in January.