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Duckweed Poses Problem

Tribune photo by JASON BEHNKEN

City officials have been reluctant to grant cleanup permission for Lake Roberta. They see a health and safety issue if residents wade into water that is filled with nasty runoff from Nebraska Avenue.

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By KATHY STEELE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - Lake Roberta is a lime green shade these days, covered with tiny floating duckweed. To many residents, the vegetation is an unexpected outcome of the lake's recent cleanup.

"My friends refer to it as 'Swamp Roberta,'" said Wesley Warren, who lives along the lake.

He wants to turn volunteers loose to scoop up the pesky plants in nets. Once cleared, the duckweed could return, but Warren said it can be scooped every two months or so.

Another lakeside resident, Todd Messner, is ready to help. "It looks gross," he said. "If we could get 50 people with pool screens, it wouldn't take long."

City officials have been reluctant to grant permission. They see a health and safety issue if residents wade into water that is filled with nasty runoff from Nebraska Avenue.

"That's not a swimming pool," stormwater director Chuck Walter said.

The duckweed is an outgrowth of installing a new sediment trap, stirring up the lake's sediment and removing debris. Walter said the lake should clear within a year or so.

"It's a nature-take-its-course scenario," he said.

The city hired Kamminga & Roodvoets this year to install stormwater pipes and the trap, which is in addition to a trap installed in 2005.

The project cost of about $316,000 was shared by the city and the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The money was part of about $840,000 set aside for an urban lake rescue project for Lake Roberta in Hampton Terrace, Lake Edna in Wellswood and Lake Kipling in South Tampa.

In the 1880s, the spring-fed Lake Roberta was a cattle watering hole. Developers built Hampton Terrace in the 1920s and longtime residents remember well-attended fish-a-thons at the lake.

In the 1930s, the state installed a pipe to drain stormwater into the lake from Nebraska. The city added Roberta to its retention pond system and over the years, debris, oil, fertilizer runoff and exotic vegetation choked and polluted the lake.

Some residents want the lake dredged, but the city opted for a smaller project. Walter said no additional cleanups are on tap.

Warren said he is working with city officials to get an OK to sweep out the duckweed.

"I'm not very worried about health conditions," he said. "I simply want permission so I won't get arrested."

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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