Lake County targets water quality in Lake Yale and Dora basins

MOUNT DORA — Finding new ways to protect and preserve the county's thousands of area waterways and lakes is the focus of Lake County Public Works' environmental division.

The agency is taking on two projects this year in the Lake Yale Basin and one in the Lake Dora Basin, ranging in cost from several hundred thousand dollars to $2 million and intended to achieve and maintain the best water quality possible.

"We do water-quality projects to improve existing water quality in area waterways, lakes and retention ponds, making sure that water is contained and treated correctly," said Nicholas Mcray, stormwater project manager.

Many of the projects are part of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Upper Oklawaha Basin Management Action Plan in a partnership with Orange County, area cities, the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Lake County Water Authority to restore and protect water quality in the numerous lakes in the basin listed as "impaired."

"There is a concerted effort by the state to recognize the peril of our water resources and to reverse any negative impacts upon them," Mcray said.