LAND O’ LAKES — About a dozen volunteers spent a hot Sunday morning knee-deep in muck, and they were happy to be there.
On July 12, they waded into a stormwater retention pond in front of the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, pulling out invasive plants and lining the banks with native Florida vegetation. The goal: restore habitat and cut the nutrient pollution that has left the pond stagnant and murky.
The work capped the Stormwater Smart Solutions Pond Restoration project, funded by a Tampa Bay Estuary Program Bay Mini-Grant and run by the UF/IFAS Extension in collaboration with Pasco County Public Works.
“It was in bad shape — the water was pretty gross-colored and mucky, and so we had all those invasive (plants that had) taken over,” said Megan Moore, a UF/IFAS Extension agent and project leader. “All the other ponds on the property have a lot of plant growth and good water quality, but this one was really suffering. It was really stagnant, so planting these will bring this pond back to life, and they’ll continue to spread, too, as we plant more of them.”
The pond is far from alone. Florida has roughly 76,000 stormwater ponds, Moore said, and almost all of them fall short of good water quality standards.
The project came in two phases. The first was educational: four seminars, two apiece at the Land O’ Lakes and New River libraries, on stormwater pollution and watersheds — the areas where rain drains downhill into a shared body of water.
The sessions also offered do-it-yourself fixes that residents, neighborhoods and homeowners associations could take on themselves. In short, Moore said, it was a chance for anyone to learn how to restore a pond without waiting for the county.
The second phase was the July 12 planting.
Pasco is still building that capacity. The environmental division within Public Works is not quite three years old, said Milla Turner, the county’s environmental program coordinator and a fellow project leader.
“If residents are interested in the programs, reach out to Public Works, and I do have a few groups I’m working with now,” Turner said. “Sometimes it’s me going out there and educating, but we have a full-blown program where we go through all the steps and do the planting, like this project.”
Just over a year ago, Public Works launched a volunteer-led Adopt-A-Pond and Lake Management program focused on teaching residents to restore and maintain ponds and lakes. Pasco County has about 6,000 water bodies spread across 868 square miles, according to Turner and the environmental division — far more than the county can tend on its own.
Both programs are growing slowly, Turner said, and so is the volunteer pool. She and Moore remain optimistic, particularly about pond adoptions.
“It’s just making (ponds) healthier in order to treat that stormwater pollution, but also balance residential needs with the needs of nature,” Turner said. “It’s community based, so if you have a pond in your community that you think could look a little better, or you think has a certain issue, I work with you through the program. There’s an application, you apply. Then we work through it together. It is very collaborative.”
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Pasco County Adopt-A-Pond Program
For more information, visit https://www.pascocountyfl.gov/services/public_works/adopt_a_pond.php