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The Palm Beach County Chain-of-Lakes consist of five interconnected lake systems beginning with Pine Lake on the north end of the chain, progressing southward to Lake Clarke, Lake Osborne, Lake Eden, and Lake Ida, covering a linear distance of approximately 30 miles. The freshwater lakes serve directly or indirectly, as sources of drinking water, surface water storage and recreation. In an effort to better manage and restore the natural resources of the chain-of-lakes system in the eastern part of the County, ERM has evaluated the status of its freshwater ecosystems and developed a management plan titled State of the Lakes (8MB) to protect, restore and enhance the natural resource values the lakes provide. An extensive field monitoring program was initiated during August 2000 in each
of the five lakes. This program included continuous monitoring of groundwater
seepage inflow seepage inflow into the lakes, monitoring of surface water inflow
and outflow, characterization of existing sediments, and a surface water quality
monitoring program. The results of these field activities are used to prepare
hydrologic and nutrient budgets for each of the five lakes and to assist in
developing alternatives for water quality improvement. Water quality monitoring conducted for the hydraulic and nutrient budgets discussed above concluded in August 2001. In January 2006, ERM staff initiated the Chain-of-Lakes Water Quality Monitoring Program. Water quality data from this program was used to develop the Chain-of-Lakes Water Quality Update dated May 2008. History: Accounts of early settlement of Palm Beach County in the late
1800’s depicted the original Chain-of-Lakes as part of an extensive system.
Very likely the lakes at this time were quite shallow and integrally coupled
with adjacent wetlands. Comparison of the lake shoreline configurations in 1883
with that in 1969 shows the tremendous loss in lake and wetland area The chain of once natural freshwater lakes lies along the western slope of the coastal ridge in Palm Beach County. Mangonia and Clear Lakes serve as water supply reservoirs for the City of West Palm Beach. Proceeding southward are Pine Lake, Lake Clarke, Lake Osborne and its appendage Square Lake, and Lakes Ida and Eden. Several small natural lakes that were once part of the chain have been completely eliminated through drainage and filling or are now merely wide spots in the canal network which interconnects the larges lakes and the drainage canals that flow to tidewater. The existing hydrologic regime of the Chain-of-Lakes (COL) if quite complex and is regulated by a number of man-made canals and water structures. The COL are located along the northern, central, and southern portions of the E-4 Canal system, with patterns and magnitudes of water movement regulated to a large extent by operational schedules of existing water control structures. Depending on the operation of the various control structures, water can move either from north-to-south or south-to-north. The dominant inputs into the COL consist of inputs from the E-4 and C-51 Canals. On an annual basis, tributary inflow contributes 81% of the annual hydrologic inputs to Pine Lake and 94-99% of the annual hydrologic inputs to Lake Clarke, Lake Osborne, Lake Ida and Lake Eden. Direct precipitation is the second largest contributor to the hydrologic budget in each lake, followed by inflow of groundwater seepage and miscellaneous stormwater inputs. As a result of the significant inflows into the lake systems from the E-4 and C-51 Canals, residence times within the lakes are extremely short. The longest residence time for a lake within the COL occurs in Pine Lake, with an estimated residence time of 40 days. Residence times in the remaining lakes are extremely short, ranging from 3 days in Lake Clarke to 15 days in Lake Ida. Based upon the field monitoring, it is apparent that both the hydrology and mass loading for the lake systems are controlled primarily by tributary inflow into the lakes from the interconnected E-4 and C-51 Canal systems. Based on the extremely short residence times for each of the lakes, it appears that the water quality characteristics in each of the lakes are regulated primarily by the quality of the tributary inflow. As a result, significant improvement in water quality characteristics within the COL can only be achieved by improving water quality within the E-4 and C-51 Canal systems. Additional improvements in water quality characteristics can be obtained by removing or inactivating nutrient-rich lake bottom sediments and massive plantings of submergent vegetation.
Pine Lake is situated within the City of West Palm Beach. Also
referred to as “Airport Lake”, it lies between Belvedere Road and
Southern Boulevard, immediately east of the Palm Lake Clarke:
Lake Osborne: The “flow” within Lake Osborne is determined by the discharge patterns of the South Florida Water Management District’s water control structures which discharge to Lake Worth Lagoon. Lake Osborne is located between the C-51 canal structure to its north and the C-16 structure to the south. The structure which controls the C-51 canal, the largest discharging canal to the Lake Worth Lagoon, can discharge an average of 356 million gallons per day. This structure is located approximately 2 miles north and east of the north lobe of Lake Osborne and appears to be the major influence on the lake’s water movement causing its flow pattern to generally be from south to north. Originally the John Prince Park was part of an extensive wetland/lake system derived from trapped rainwater on the western slope of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge. With acquisition of the land by the Palm Beach County, the area was earmarked for development as a county park. John Prince Park came into being in the mid 1930s and subsequently the majority of the wetlands were filled with clean filled dredged from Lake Osborne. Some of the remnant wetlands remain, i.e., Custard Apple Slough, but for the most part, the wetlands are gone and the lake shores have long since been demucked and filled. Custard Apple Slough remains but is severely challenged with a multiplicity of exotic vegetation species. The remainder of the Park was developed and landscaped. The 6-acre wetland remains from the original wetland system that is now Picnic Island, Square Lake and its oxbow. Square Lake and its oxbow were dredged from the fill originally placed when the area was demucked. John Prince Park is a popular park with heavy usage by visitors and anglers alike. The Custard Apple Slough south of the Park and north and west of Lantana Airport was originally open water habitat. When LWDD lowered the water level to 9 feet from 15 feet, aquatic vegetation colonized this area. In the early 1970’s there was still some open water to be seen from the boardwalk observation platform, but most of the slough was mixed cattail and sawgrass. Willow rapidly invaded there areas and became the dominant vegetation by the mid 1980’s. The boardwalk was abandoned when the wood rotted and the willow blocked the view. The Pond Apple Habitat Project is located on land owned by the County, part of John Prince Park, and the local community college who with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, is also a partner in this project. |
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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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that has occurred within the last hundred years, with well over fifty percent
of the historic surface lost to overdrainage. 
At
present time, large portions of the COL are virtually void of native emergent
or submergent vegetation. Lake bottom vegetation, especially submergent vegetation,
can be extremely effective in removing nitrogen and phosphorus from the water
column and improving visual water quality by reducing phytoplankton concentrations.
A lake revegetation project would involve removing all exotic emergent or submergent
vegetation and replanting with native plant species.
Beach
International Airport. The lake is a popular location for water skiers and lies
within the C-51 Basin. Inflow and outflow to Pine Lake is from the county maintained
Stub Canal. Fifty-one percent of the drainage area in the subbasin in which
Pine Lake lies is impervious to the water, which suggests that water levels
to the lake and nutrient and pollutant loads carried in stormwater will rise
very rapidly in response to rain events. 
Lake
Clarke is within the Town of Lake Clarke Shores and lies within the C-51 Basin.
The LWDD L-7 canal flows into Lake Clarke from the west and the C-51 flows in
fro the east at the northern end of the lake. LWDD L-8 and L-9 (lateral canals)
flow into the lake from the west at its center, along with another inflow of
the C-51 from the east. Lake Clarke empties into the L-10 and the E-4 canal
at its southern terminus. There are 5 county-owned stormwater outfalls, and
3 Department of Transportation (DOT) outfalls within 300 m (1,000 ft.) of Lake
Clarke. A residential area on the western shore of Lake Clarke north of the
L-8 canal is served with septic tanks. The soil type in this area is Basinger-Urban
land complex, with the seasonally high water table at the soil surface. This
means that the potential for contamination of the lakes with septic tank leakage
is very high. 
