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In accordance with the approved State of the Lakes Master Plan for the Chain of Lakes, the proposed restoration project encompasses a portion of the six restoration projects identified in the State of the Lakes plan. Specifically the project is located in and adjacent to Square Lake and continues southward to the slough area just north of Lantana airport and west of the entrance to John Prince Park campground. Square Lake The extensive layers of anoxic muck and vegetation mats in and around Square Lake will be removed to the natural sand bottom. After restoring the sand bottom, deeper areas will be created in the lake for fish utilization and gravel beds and artificial structures to enhance bass habitat and habitat for benthics respectively will be added to the lake. The shores of Square Lake will be cleared of exotic vegetation and resloped to wetland elevations for planting a mix of herbaceous and hardwood wetland plant species. To enhance flushing and create additional habitat, a second cut will be excavated to create open water and an island wetland habitats. Approximately .46 acres of open shoreline will be left between the created wetland areas to facilitate shoreline fishing. Two fishing piers are planned for the area, one north of the island and one along the south shoreline of Square Lake. Almost 9 acres of exotic vegetation seed and spore sources has been removed or eradicated from the northeast corner of Square Lake and Picnic Island by the Palm Beach County Parks Department in 2004. Replacement plantings of native species will be provided as needed. To enhance water management and water quality, the culverts on the southwest corner connecting Square Lake to the L14 canal will be plugged with plans to replace the clogged culverts on the southeast corner connecting to Lake Osborne with a larger box culvert. Boat wakes are not expected to be a problem since it is anticipated that gas engine boats will not be allowed within the oxbow or the lake. The cabbage palm area adjacent to the new culvert will be shored up and hardened to compensate for the erosion problem in that area. This restoration should create approximately 8.48 acres of vegetated wetlands and restore approximately 6.8 acres of mixed wetland habitat and 11.74 acres of open water habitat available for aquatic macrophyte colonization.
This phase of the project will recontour a portion of the Slough located south of the loop and northeast of the campground that was originally used for spoil placement when the open water “loop” was dredged. The dredge spoil mounds created from the dredging and adjacent to the open water will be scraped down to wetland elevations to create a broad littoral shelf. The created wetland area will be planted with a variety of herbaceous and hardwood wetland plant species. These vegetated wetlands will offer significant benefits to fish, crustaceans, and bird populations through a complex food web and creation of breeding habitats. Restoration of this area will help reverse the trend of loss of wetland habitat in this developed park area. The planting of wetland plants and trees will help re-establish fisheries habitat and partially offset the effects of shoreline vegetation loss due to development. It will also help the water quality of the lake by providing wetland plants to assist in nutrient uptake, filtration of particulates from the water and reduction of erosion along the shoreline. The campground entrance roadway will be recontoured, armored to reduce erosion, and planted with a diversity of native aquatic plant species to create wetlands. A box culvert will be installed through the campground entrance road to enhance flushing for the wetland systems within the Slough and provide small boat access to the loop and the deeper pond in the western slough. The existing connecting channel located west of the proposed created wetland will be opened up, deepened and widened by muck removal to create open water habitat which will lead to an existing pond in the western slough, allowing access for additional fishing opportunities. The sloped sides of these channels will be planted with herbaceous wetland species. This restoration should create approximately 9.21 acres of wetland habitat available for aquatic macrophyte colonization, restore approximately 23.41 acres of vegetated mixed wetlands, and create .65 acres of open water habitat.
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 Coastal Resources |
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Lakes,
Estuaries and Lagoons |
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Mosquito Control |
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Natural Areas |
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Permitting and Regulation |
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