Effects of Agricultural Discharges
into Freshwater Lakes
C. W. SHEFFIELD, Pollution Control Officer
R. T. KALEEL, Biologist
Orange County Pollution Control Department
Orlando, Florida
INTRODUCTION
The agricultural business in the entire country has increased along with the
demands for their products. This is especially true ragarding truck farming operations. Never in history has the housewife had such a selection of fresh vegetable over
such extended periods.
This seemingly prosperity has not come without varying deg of difficulty and
modernization in planting, harvesting, shipping and selling.
In the United States most of the winter and spring vegetable crops are grown in
the warmer climates of Florida, Texas, Arizona and California. To obtain crop
growth needed for maximum production the practice of land irrigation must be
practiced.
History has recorded the diversion of water for irrigation of crops back in the
early pioneer days. The result being many thousand of productive acres for growing
all types of vegetable crops, especially in central and southern Florida.
Irrigation has increased mans crops production and problems to his waterways.
These problems are in such forms as excessive fertilizer being released causing abnormal growths of algae and aquatic weeds, water management problems, increases in
pesticide and mineral contents in receiving lakes and streams and their bottom muds.
With the ideal climate, Florida has thousands of acres under cultivation growing vegetable crops during the winter and spring months. In fact many areas produce
some type of vegetable crop the entire year. Most of this farming is on peat soil that
was at one time lake bottoms.
Land of this nature is either developed naturally or reclaimed by man through
diking and canaling systems. In some instances portions of shallow peat bottom lakes
are diked, this area drained, pumps and canaling systems installed and then this rich
farming land planted in various vegetable crops.
This paper will discuss the effects of agricultural discharges on receiving waters
both from what is being discharged chemically and how it changes the chemical,
physical, and biological characteristics of the receiving fresh water lakes.
LAKE APOPKA FARMING OPERATION
The first to be reviewed will be the 18,000 acre organic soil (Muck Farms)
located on the north shore of Lake Apopka. This operation is broken into two
-904-