Lake Jackson is back
Lake Jackson has returned.
More than a decade after most of the water drained from it, leaving it looking more like a savanna than a lush freshwater lake, water levels are again flush with the half-dozen or so boat ramps and lapping at docks extending from people's yards.
"The lake is dang near full," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Michael Hill.
The Northwest Florida Water Management District reports the lake at just below 86-feet above sea level, pretty close to normal.
Hill said the water levels on the 4,000-acre lake fluctuate all the time, but that number is right at where it filled to in 2010. Before that, the lake hadn't been full since 1997.
In 1999, as part of the eons-old cycle of wet and dry periods, Jackson drained through two sinkholes, Porter and Lime sinks, and left most of the lake bed to bake in the scorching Florida sun.
With Tallahassee rainfall hovering around 13 inches above normal for the year, the aquifer, where the water drained, is full.
"Whenever the water drains into the ground, it can only drain when the aquifer is low," Hill said, adding that the sinkholes only account for a small portion of water loss.
Water also evaporates from the surface, plants evaporate water into the atmosphere through transpiration and it seeps through the sandy bottom, lake wide.
Hill, a fisheries biologist, said when the water was draining down Porter Sink, most of it had already left in the other three ways.
But, the periods of drought are just as important for the lake's health as when it's full. They give plant and aquatic life the chance to recharge.
"Bream and the bass make a bed and they need a healthy, sandy bottom to make a bed and have success," Hill said. "When it comes back after draining naturally, the success of the spawn is very high. (Draining), it's an incredible shot in the arm for any lake, especially Lake Jackson."
Hill said by draining, the biological grip of a muck-covered bottom, that keeps new plant life from thriving, Jackson becomes healthier.
Other lakes around Tallahassee with sinkholes also have dams or structures around the sinks to regulate water levels.
Lakes Lafayette, Munson, Iamonia and Miccosukee all have regulating features.
Hill said the sentiment of some to fill Jackson's sink to keep lakefront property and recreation opportunities open are detrimental to the lake's overall health.
"The thing is," Hill said, "is that the fluctuation water levels is critical to the health of Lake Jackson."
See Monday's Tallahassee Democrat for more on this story