Army of volunteers wades through muddy waters to keep Seminole lakes clear

On St. Patrick's Day, a small army of volunteers waded into the knee-high muddy waters of a Seminole County pond, where they pulled out invasive weeds and planted native vegetation along the shoreline.

As the plants — including pickerelweed, duck potato and canna — grow, they will act as filters and prevent fertilizers and other noxious nutrients from flowing into the pond to feed algae blooms that can turn a water body into a thick green soup.

The effort in the Sweetwater Oaks neighborhood is part of Seminole’s annual lake and pond management and restoration program held every spring and fall since 2008 as a way of keeping the county’s water bodies clean and clear for homeowners and visitors. Volunteers as young as 10 will join county biologists in similar plantings at other lakes and ponds in Seminole in the coming weeks.

“By putting in some nice native plants, we are helping the waterfronts,” said Marie Lackey, Seminole’s watershed management coordinator.

To join in the wet, muddy fun, call SERV coordinator Elizabeth Stephens (serv@seminolecountyfl.gov; 407-665-2457)