While the small lakes or ponds found in many communities allow more people to live on or near a body of water, most of them are man-made and their real purpose is collecting and managing runoff from rainwater.
There are nearly 3,000 stormwater management ponds in Lee County alone covering more than 8,000 acres.
Director of Water Resources at Johnson Engineering, Andy Tilton, said if well-maintained, these ponds not only help reduce downstream flooding, they can also help improve water quality.
“When the water runs across hard surfaces or even grassed areas it can pick up particulates, fertilizers…it can pick up hydrocarbons off of parking lots…and those things decrease the water quality so the ponds also help in improving that water quality before it’s discharged from the site.”
The Florida Lake Management Society is offering a free Citizen Scientists Managing Ponds Workshop on Tuesday, August 30 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs to provide best-practices for people who live near a stormwater management pond.
Click HERE to register.
Click HERE to hear a conversation on Gulf Coast Life about the importance of properly maintaining stormwater management ponds.
