About the Project

The City of Naples has begun a project to improve the water quality of North and South Lakes and improve the lakes’ health, functionality, and aesthetics for the surrounding community. The functions of North Lake and South Lake are to store and direct stormwater into the Gulf of Mexico, to mitigate flooding and reduce peak flows during rainfall events. These lakes provide valuable services to the citizens of the City of Naples, particularly the residents adjacent to North and South Lakes.

The project team is evaluating the possibility of dredging which is commonly used in stormwater lakes and may be recommended at North Lake and South Lake. The removal of highly organic sediments would:

  • Reduce the re-release of nutrients stored within the sediments to the water column and improve the efficiency of treatment of nutrient-rich stormwater inputs.
  • Reduce the potential for dissolved oxygen depletion that can produce objectionable odors and potential fish kills.
  • Increase the depth and storage capacity of the lakes to improve flood mitigation effectiveness.
  • Increase the residence time of water in the lake which should improve effectiveness of North Lake and South Lake in removing stormwater pollutants and improve water quality in discharges to Alligator Lake and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico.

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Other design elements for North and South Lakes and their watersheds to reduce downstream loadings of pollutants of concern and improve water quality are being evaluated for implementation. These could include littoral shelves, enclosed sediment sumps or catch basins at stormwater inflows to remove trash and debris prior to entering the infrastructure system, rain gardens in open spaces within the basin (either in public right of ways or in homeowner areas), baffles projecting from the lake bank into the lake to increase retention time, and increase street sweeping.

We want your input

Public input is very important in the design of Lake 8 North Lake project.

Please provide your comments on the Contact Us page.