WW's ponds in the summer

Terry Peeler (Lake Doctors) and his team have been caring for Wildewood's manmade, stormwater retention ponds for almost 20 years. 

Though the HOAs formally work with Terry, years ago he invited and I agreed to send him photos of the ponds between services for his use in determining maintenance. Here are some of the photos I sent this week.

He responded by saying that there is mostly protozoan scum on the pond, which is helped by dispersement. Another rain appreciation! 

Things that help control the bloom: taking stormwater runoff over land before entering the pond, reducing fertilizer, insecticide, and herbicide use as much as possible, and having the excellent services Terry's team provides.

Here is a good pamphlet to learn more about helpful stormwater practices. It is guidance about safety with algae blooms. People and pets should not come into contact with pond algae (toxins). 

I've written about WW ponds:

A post about the purpose of Wildewood ponds

A post about building stormwater paths in Wildewood to help with erosion control

Photos of Wildewood ponds during heavy rains

The Pineneedle/Woodlawn pond and its care are shared by WWI (John Haggerty, property manager) and Pineneedle (WW2A).

Wildewood ponds serve an important purpose

"Stormwater pollution is the largest source of water quality degradation in the State of Florida." - Florida Best Management Practices

It's wet and lush in the neighborhood after almost 24 hours of thunderstorms. Quick as the raindrop falls, the pond levels rise! This rainy day is a good time to celebrate our retention ponds. 

As I understand it, the ponds are all manmade (by developer Paul Neal) for an important purpose: to receive stormwater runoff. (What was scooped out became land to build Wildewood Springs.) 

(We also celebrate the remarkable diversity of wildlife, especially bird species drawn to the ponds. To date, nearly 100 different birds have been photographed. Beth's list is HERE, mine is HERE.)

It matters how stormwater moves from streets into the ponds. Best practices for reducing pollutants and maintaining water quality recommend letting the water run over the land to the pond because the plants’ root systems, even grass, filter out pollutants. 

Here is an example of that. Neighbors wondered how to alleviate flooding in the parking lot. After consults with the city, the Board experimented with creating stone stormwater paths to control flooding and support pond health. 

HERE is a post about how we created this remarkable path including the costs. There are two stormwater paths in Pineneedle.

This photo is of a section of the path today, 4 years later. It looks like the path opened its eyes in hello. 

  

Wildewood retention ponds help during heavy rains

Well, look. A Limpkin. (A quiet Limpkin!) They sound like this when they aren't quiet.

I was barely around the Pineneedle curve and I saw a Limpkin with a prize snail. It's not a close enough photo to see if it's their favorite, an apple snail. They do eat a few other native snails. 

I decided to photograph other areas of Wildewood Springs to show you how smart Neal and Seibert were to include so many retention ponds in our neighborhood. Despite pouring rains, areas drain. (I know some areas have added parking lot culverts.) 

Other villages have installed above ground stormwater paths. The water runs across planted areas or grass which helps clean the water before it gets to the pond. That helps reduce summer algae growth in the pond.

Everyone is ready to dry off including this White Ibis.

There are huge puddles in other areas. Within a couple hours most of these areas recede.

So here is a look at the neighborhood this evening. The weather forecast for tonight is HERE. 

This is near the Cortez Road entrance and Springlake tennis courts. The pond has flooded into the grassy area.