Road closures at Lake Apopka North Shore begin on Monday

Construction will begin this week on the Lake Apopka North Shore to mitigate erosion damage caused when water is discharged from the canal or attached cells. To ensure public safety, access to Interceptor Road and Laughlin Road from McDonald northward will be restricted for the duration of the construction.

Work will begin March 21st and is scheduled to be completed by early May 2022.

Lake Apopka is the headwaters of the Ocklawaha Chain of Lakes. The District and partners have worked since the 1980s to improve the lake’s water quality and habitat.

The District is implementing a series of infrastructure improvements on the Lake Apopka North Shore that will allow more water storage, increase water management flexibility, and reduce nutrient inputs to Lake Apopka.

Among the upcoming projects at Lake Apopka are:

• The District partnered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on a $5.7 million project to improve water quality by capturing lake sediments in a natural settling area (called a sump), dredged into the lake’s bottom to be periodically pumped to an area on the North Shore designed to hold the removed sediments. The sump was constructed just outside the entrance to the Apopka-Beauclair Canal in hopes of trapping sediments that might otherwise move toward Lake Beauclair.
• Utilizing funding from the 2014 Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative, the District has accelerated wetland restoration efforts on portions of the North Shore.
• The District is working to accelerate the recovery of aquatic plants in Lake Apopka with a $1.5 million restoration effort that includes:
  • A collaboration with the University of Florida to improve underwater planting techniques and plant tens of thousands of aquatic plants throughout the lake.
  • Planting submerged aquatic plants like eelgrass and pondweed. This project is in partnership with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and will plant up to 240,000 plants in Lake Apopka.
  • Planting floating leaved plants like water lily and lotus to provide submerged habitat in up to 35 acres of the lake. This project is in partnership with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

To learn more about water quality improvement projects at Lake Apopka, go here.

St. Johns River Water Management District staff are committed to ensuring the sustainable use and protection of water resources for the benefit of the people of the District and the State of Florida. The St. Johns River Water Management District is one of five districts in Florida managing groundwater and surface water supplies in the state. The District encompasses all or part of 18 northeast and east-central Florida counties. District headquarters are in Palatka, and staff also are available to serve the public at service centers in Jacksonville and Palm Bay. 

A map illustrates road closures at Lake Apopka North Shore. Cyclists and wildlife drive visitors will be affected by the closures.