Update on Little Wekiva River March 2024

As intense remediation work proceeds, portions of the Little Wekiva River has been restored, the banks have been fortified in places, and native vegetations has been planted to secure the banks. It is clearly an area in major transition. There is a heartening return of fish, birds, alligators and even a swimming bear.

However, only a small portion of the project area has been completed and can be kayaked. At either end of a very brief run remain large sand banks, heavy roads made of the sand, and many kinds of heavy equipment. And importantly, remaining sand from upstream of the project area is already slipping past the sand trap barriers into the area that has already been remediated. This shows the complexity of the project and the immensity of this sand intrusion. There is still much to do here.

We know that the remediation is a marathon not a sprint. Fortunately, Seminole County and their contractor have the expertise and commitment to see it through, and they are doing a fantastic job. Also, we are very close to having final EPA approval to use the $688,000 of federal funds allocated for this remediation effort by former Congresswoman Murphy, which will help.

Among many lessons to learn from this Little Wekiva River tragic damage and restoration experience are how fragile our seemingly timeless, protected rivers are, how easily they can be destroyed, and how hard and expensive it is to bring them back.

Jeanette Schreiber

Images and video by Jeanette Schreiber and Michelle Jamesson