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Conservation supervisor warns Stark Lake now shows nutrient impairment, urges stakeholder cleanup
Summary
Dr. Jim Moyer, an elected supervisor with the Orange Soil and Water Conservation District, told the Ocoee commission that Stark Lake has shifted from not impaired (2019) to showing nutrient impairment and urged local stakeholders to convene to work on cleanup efforts.
Dr. Jim Moyer, an elected supervisor with the Orange Soil and Water Conservation District, told the City Commission that Stark Lake is showing nutrient impairment compared with earlier assessments and urged the city and area stakeholders to coordinate cleanup efforts.
Moyer reviewed historical and recent dust-storm images to argue that climate change will increase extreme events and then turned to local water-quality trends. He said Stark Lake was not listed as impaired as of November 2019 but now shows evidence of nutrient impairment on recent monitoring and reporting (he cited reporting by the Tampa Bay Times investigative series for the trend).
Moyer urged the commission to convene local stakeholders — naming the school district, area farms, the Women's Club and Stark Lake residents — to develop a coordinated plan to reverse the lake's decline so the downtown area might one day support recreational uses such as swimming.
The commission did not take formal action on the Lake cleanup during the meeting. The remarks were made during the public comment portion of the agenda and were presented as a request for the city and other stakeholders to consider coordination and possible remediation work.
Moyer framed the problem as local but connected to broader climate and land-use trends. He also noted recent human fatalities in dust-related highway crashes elsewhere as context for climate-driven hazards but did not link those incidents directly to Stark Lake.
