Estech General Chemicals Corporation, Duette Mine, Manatee County, Florida. Resource Document: Surface Water Quality

摘要

Because the great majority of proposed Duette mine site lies within the Manatee River drainage basin, this water quality investigation (and others preceding it) focused major attention on the North and East Forks of the Manatee River which converge and flow into Lake Manatee. Water quality of the South Fork Little Manatee River is examined in less detail since it drains a relatively smaller area, and there will be no intentional interference with the stream by the proposed activity. Lake Manatee is the primary potable water supply serving the majority of the population in Manatee County and a significant portion of Sarasota County (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (TBRPC), 1978). A study of water quality conditions in major reservoirs (including Lake Manatee) in the Tampa Bay region was conducted as part of the Areawide Water Quality Management (AWQM) Plan (TBRPC, 1978). That study concluded that water quality in Lake Manatee as of 1975 was good. Acceleration of the natural eutrophication by excessive nutrient loading was identified as the major problem threatening the reservoir's water quality. Runoff from pastures and fertilized cropland in the Lake's watershed is recognized as the major source of these nutrients.