Apopka reviews pump-and-irrigation options for Clear Lake; HOA faces roughly $336,000 share

Apopka city staff, engineers and Clear Lake area homeowners met August 11 at a workshop to review long‑term options to lower Clearwater (Clear Lake) after emergency pumps ran Feb.–Apr. 2023.

The discussion centered on three alternatives: (1) a privately owned irrigation pump station using lake surface water for neighborhood irrigation (the option the city’s consultant previously recommended), (2) a larger system to transfer surface water to the city’s North Shore reclaimed water treatment plant for treatment and reuse, and (3) repeating temporary emergency pumping when needed. Engineers and HOA representatives reviewed permits, cost estimates and likely homeowner impacts.

The matter matters to dozens of households around the closed‑basin lake because the lake’s level has risen in recent years and flooded yards. The city reported that emergency pumping in 2023 lowered the lake about 3.4 feet at a cost of $194,150, and Balmoral Group designed a longer‑term irrigation pump solution that is permitted as a consumptive use permit issued to Clear Lake Landing in January 2025.

City staff presenter “Vlad” summarized basin history, ownership and the permit: the lake is privately owned by four entities—Clear Lake Landing HOA (south), Clear Lake Estates LLC (northeast), Avian Point Community Association (west/northwest) and one private owner on the east—and St. Johns River Water Management District issued a consumptive use permit that allows withdrawals down to elevation 63 feet for irrigation. Vlad said the current lake elevation was 69.58 feet at the most recent reading and that, under the district permit,…