Lake Istokpoga Chapter 2 1-28-19

Background and history of Lake Istokpoga habitat management Aristotle (384—322 B.C.E.): “There is no time apart from change” Geologic History of Florida leading to Geology of Highlands/Polk County surrounding Lake Istokpopga: Geologists estimate the age of the Earth at more than 4.5 billion years. The Florida plateau, which is the platform upon which Florida is perched, was formed about 530 million years ago by a combination of volcanic activity and marine sedimentation during the early Ordovician Period. When the Florida plateau was part of the supercontinent, Florida was sandwiched between what were to become North and South America and Africa. Movement of the tectonic plates that compose the Earth’s crust eventually caused split into Laurasia (North America, Europe, and portions of Asia) and Gondwana (South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica). When North America split from Laurasia and drifted northwesterly, it dragged the Florida plateau with it. During the glacial periods (110,000 to 15,000 years ago) sea levels fluctuated hundreds of feet having a profound effect on formation of Florida’s geology and resulting ecology. The changing sea levels influenced the formation of bedrock, soils, and surface topography. These geological factors influence the formation of lakes and the fertility of the soils within the lakes watersheds. Many lakes in Highlands County including Lake Istokpoga are nutrient rich, located in the Kissimmee/Okeechobee Lowland where the geology is dominated by undifferentiated sand, shell, clay, marl, and peat of the Holocene (Griffith et al 1997). Settlement History of Florida leading to the creation of Highlands County Florida: • 1565 The Spanish founded St. Augustine, the first permanent white settlement in what is now the United States. Pensacola was founded by the Spanish in 1698, but there was little significant European settlement in Florida until the late eighteenth century. • 1763: At the close of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War), Britain gained control of Florida. Settlers from Europe and the American colonies to the north began to move into the area. The provinces of East Florida and West Florida were formed. • 1783: Most of the British settlers left when Spain regained the Florida’s. • 1812: The United States annexed portions of West Florida to Louisiana and the Mississippi Territory. • 1812, 1816 and 1817: Seminole Indian Wars (Osceola; Seminole Chief 1804-1838) • 1819: Spain ceded the remainder of West Florida and all of East Florida to the United States for $5,000,000. Official United States occupation took place in 1821. • 30 March 1822: Florida Territory organized. • 18 September 1822: Treaty of Fort Moultrie between the United States and the Seminole Indians. • 1835-1842: The Second Seminole War was caused by reaction to the Treat of Payne's Landing (1832) and the attempts by the U.S. to remove them from Florida. The Seminole's, led by Chief Osceola, Wild Cat, Alligator and Aripeka, conducted a guerrilla war. Over 1,500 U.S. troops lost their lives. • 1842: At the close of the Seminole War, most of the Indians were removed west to present-day Oklahoma, but a few hundred escaped into the swamps. • 3 March 1845: Florida became a state. • 1861: Florida seceded from the Union. It was readmitted in 1868. 1 • 1870-1900 The post-Civil War boom brought many settlers to Florida, as developers from the north built railroads and resorts. • 1911: The Hollywood Indian Reservation was established for the Seminole Indians. • 1921-1925 The last 13 of the state's 67 counties were organized as the Florida land boom attracted new settlers from the north. • 1921--Highlands County was created 23 April 1921 from DeSoto County. Starting around 1910, Lake Istokpoga’s first settlers began to lay down their roots along the marshy Northeast shore of the lake. While many towns in Florida were started by skilled real estate developers with capitalistic dreams of striking it rich, the first towns started around Lake Istokpoga were not. The first town of Lorida was comprised of cowboy homesteaders seeking the country life, building their own version of Eden on the edge of the Everglades. After the first settlers arrived came the ultimate need to adjust the land and water to make life easier and populations within the whole county began to grow. According to the US Decennial Census the population of Highlands County has increased from approximately 9,200 in 1930 to an estimated 100,100 in 1916 (Table 1). Year Population 1930 9,192 1940 9,246 1950 13,636 1960 21,338 1970 29,507 1980 47,526 1990 68,432 2000 87,366 2010 98,786 Est. 2016 100,917 Table 1. Population statistics for Highlands County, FL from the US Decennial Census. Lake Istokpoga Location, Physical Description, Rainfall, Water Level/Hydrology and Land Use This brief description of Lake Istokpoga is not meant to be all inclusive but enough information to give the reader background for evaluating an aquatic plant management plan being developed for Lake Istokpoga. A more complete description Lake Istokpoga’s surroundings can be found in in a report entitled “Minimum Flows and Levels for Lake Istokpoga” developed by the South Florida Water Management District (Zahina et al. 2005). The report can be downloaded using the following web site link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305316159_Minimum_Flows_and_Levels_for_Lake_Istokpoga. The Lake Istokpoga basin is located northwest of Lake Okeechobee in central Florida and is within the Kissimmee Basin Planning Area (SFWMD 2000) (Figure 1). The Lake Istokpoga basin drains an area of approximately 920 mi2 (Milleson 1978) within Highlands and Polk counties. Approximately two-thirds of the basin is within the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), while the remaining portion of the basin and all of the lake itself are within the SFWMD. Lake Istokpoga resides within the Kissimmee/Okeechobee Lowland Region, and the Lake Wales Ridge borders it to the west (White 1970). 2 Figure 1. Major Landscape Features in the Lake Istokpoga Vicinity, from SFWMD 2000. Lake Istokpoga is Florida’s fifth-largest lake, at approximately 27,000 acres; the lake is shallow, with an average depth of roughly 4 feet (McDiffett 1981). Direct rainfall combined with tributary inflows from Josephine and Arbuckle creeks input to Lake Istokpoga and waters are directed either to the Kissimmee River or Lake Okeechobee through a system of canals and water control structures. The S-68 and the G- 85 provide control of Istokpoga’s water levels (Figure 1). The S-68, which was constructed in 1962 and became operational that same year, is a gated water control structure that discharges outflows into the C- 41A Canal to the south. Water is generally routed to the Kissimmee River and/or Lake Okeechobee (Figure 1). Historically, Istokpoga Creek, paralleling today’s Istokpoga Canal, provided the only means for channelized outflow from the lake, and significant quantities of overland (sheet) surface water once flowed toward the Kissimmee River and Indian Prairie during times of high water levels. Lake Istokpoga is a unique regional resource in several ways. It is an important source of water supply for agricultural lands located southeast of the lake (Indian Prairie). The scenic beauty of the lake has encouraged the establishment of waterfront residences along the northern and eastern shores. The lake is recognized as one of the top fishing lakes in the state of Florida, and several annual bass fishing tournaments are held there, providing significant benefit to the local economy. Waterfowl hunting is a popular sport on the lake and its fringing marshes. Remnant cypress swamps are found along the western half of the lake, providing important habitat for wildlife. Bird watching is also a significant activity. 3 Rainfall on a lakes watershed is the primary factor determining water levels in most lakes. Rainfall at Avon Park near Lake Istokpoga averages approximately 50 inches a year and ranges from less than 30 inches/year to over 80 inches/year. This rainfall variation caused Lake Istokpoga to fluctuate almost 7.5 feet prior to man’s attempt to stabilize the water levels. The US Geologic Society has maintained a continuous record of Lake Istokpoga’s water level since 1936 (Figure 2). Prior to any water level manipulations (1936 to 1962) the water level in lake Istokpoga fluctuated approximately 7.5 ft from 35.4 ft Mean Sea Level (MSL) to 42.9 ft MSL (South Florida Water Management District 2005; Report on Minimum Flows and Levels). In 1948 the G-85 water control structure was constructed on the Istokpoga canal maintaining higher water during drought situations. By 1962, the flood control canal was completed allowing water to flow southeast to Lake Okeechobee and the Army Corps of Engineers completed the S-68 water control structure on Istokpoga. After these water level manipulations and until 1989, Lake Istokpoga’s water level never exceeds 40 ft. MSL and only occasionally dropped below 37 ft. MSL (approximately 3.9 ft. fluctuation). After 1989, the US Army Corps of Engineers revised the water level schedule in response to stakeholder’s complaints about access during drought situations and the new schedule allowed the lake fluctuated only about 2.7 ft. The extreme lows shown in 1962 and 2001(Figure 2) were actually managed drawdowns, the first to install the S-68 structure and the second to scrape and remove accumulated muck in the littoral zone. Figure 2. Monthly mean water level for Lake Istokpoga from 1936 to 2016. Water level fluctuations and stabilization within lakes can have a large impact on the ecology of Florida lakes (Hoyer et al 2005, Florida LAKEWATCH 2017). Many mechanisms are affected by water level fluctuations. For example, when water levels decrease due to drought situations nutrients in some lakes 4 can increase while decreasing in others.

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