Among local water requests, Perry seeks $12 million to dredge polluted Bivens Arm

Published: Friday, February 27, 2015 at 6:01 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 8:51 p.m.

Statewide, 475 proposed projects totaling $1.2 billion have flowed into the Florida House of Representatives' Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee.

Alachua County's local governments and officials have got in on the action as well.

The largest local request is $12 million that state Rep. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, is seeking to dredge Bivens Arm, the polluted, muck-filled lake into which a large swath of Gainesville drains, carrying phosphates, nitrates and sediment.

Perry has lived in a home on the shore of Bivens Arm for 28 years. He said it has never been a particularly healthy lake during that time, but he said its health and water levels have continued to decline as algae, high nitrate and low oxygen levels have choked the water body and led to fish kills.

East of Gainesville, Alachua County government has submitted a much smaller request for a study on how to clean up a much larger lake with much greater public access.

The county has put in a $312,400 request for an Orange Creek Basin Restoration Initiative study that would look at potential ways, including dredging, to remove and dispose of the 8 feet of muck on average that coats the bottom of Newnan's Lake.

Alachua County Environmental Protection Department Director Chris Bird said one significant question involved in potentially dredging Newnan's Lake is the presence of several dozen ancient canoes, some dating back 5,000 years, scattered across the lake bed.

Other parts of the county's requested study include looking at ways to stop stormwater runoff from eroding the natural phosphate deposits in Little Hatchet Creek and carrying them downstream to Newnan's Lake.

Six local municipalities Alachua, Archer, Hawthorne, High Springs, Newberry and Waldo have submitted a combined $13.3 million in requests for water and sewer infrastructure projects. Waldo, Hawthorne and Alachua want to upgrade or replace aging water and sewer infrastructure. Archer continues to seek money $3 million in this request to construct a sewer system and wastewater treatment plant. High Springs seeks nearly $2.5 million to expand its sewer system. Newberry seeks $3 million for a sewer plant upgrade and a reclaimed water system for irrigation.

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Among local water requests, Perry seeks $12 million to dredge polluted Bivens Arm