MAITLAND, Fla., Feb. 12, 2021 — Visitors to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive should anticipate a temporary closure at the western McDonald/Canal roads section of the drive this weekend to allow for construction activities on the Lake Apopka North Shore Interconnect Project. McDonald Canal Road and a one-mile segment of Lake Level Canal Road will be temporarily closed Friday through Monday. An alternative route will instead use the Laughlin Road to Interceptor Road portions of the Wildlife Drive to reach the drive’s exit. The North Shore Interconnect Project will pump water from the Duda portions of the property to eastern portions of the North Shore to help reduce phosphorus entering Lake Apopka. The project is one in a series of St. Johns River Water Management District projects to enhance the lake’s water quality by storing more water on the North Shore and improve the recovering wetlands’ habitat value. Since the late 1980s, the District’s work at Lake Apopka has resulted in phosphorus reductions of 64% while water clarity has increased by 55%. The recovery of clearer water and return of sunlight to the lake’s bottom has caused the regrowth of submerged aquatic vegetation, missing for 50 years, and critical to the continued increases in largemouth bass habitat. About the St. Johns River Water Management District St. Johns River Water Management District staff are committed to ensuring the sustainable use and protection of water resources for the benefit of the people of the District and the state of Florida. The St. Johns River Water Management District is one of five districts in Florida managing groundwater and surface water supplies in the state. The District encompasses all or part of 18 northeast and east-central Florida counties. District headquarters are in Palatka, and staff also are available to serve the public at service centers in Maitland, Jacksonville and Palm Bay. Connect with us on Twitter at @SJRWMD, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. For more information about the District, please visit www.sjrwmd.com. We value your opinion. Please take a few minutes to share your comments on the service you received from the District by clicking this link Notices • Emails to and from the St. Johns River Water Management District are archived and, unless exempt or confidential by law, are subject to being made available to the public upon request. Users should not have an expectation of confidentiality or privacy. • Individuals lobbying the District must be registered as lobbyists (§112.3261, Florida Statutes). Details, applicability and the registration form are available at http://www.sjrwmd.com/lobbyist/