Sweetwater Creek Watershed Mgmt. Plan 2007 Update--Part 2

EXISTING NATURAL SYSTEMS CONDITIONS
spatterdock, water hyacinth, duckweed, and water lilies. The increase in areal coverage is likely
the result of the development of this community in the many artificial ponds constructed in
associated with residential and commercial facilities.
Streams and waterways (510)
While Sweetwater Creek is the dominant
linear waterway in the watershed, it is not
identified on the 1950 land use mapping due
to its narrow channel and intermittent flow
characteristics. The plant community
supported on the creek banks is included
under the Stream and Lake Swamp
community description (FLUCFCS 615).
However, the creek itself should be
recognized for its habitat and habitat support
functions. The inclusion of this category (0.3%
of the watershed) recognized the artificial channels constructed off the original channel of the
creek and the deepening and widening of other reaches of the creek. These channel alterations
created linear features that were more visible on the 2004 imagery. The current Sweetwater
Creek provides a degraded, ruderal habitat along most of its length.
Lakes (520) / Reservoirs (530)
Lakes are defined by FLUCFCS as inland water bodies excluding reservoirs. In the Sweetwater
Creek watershed, lakes are water bodies ranging in surface area from less than 10 acres to
greater than 200 acres. The larger lakes in the watershed are: Magdalene (238 ac), White Trout
(77 ac), Carroll (191 ac), and Ellen (53 ac). These water features are permanently inundated,
although water elevations rise and fall as a result of rainfall and control structure operations.
Most lakes have undergone some degree of development on bordering lands; however, some
cypress swamp and wetland coniferous forests remain on lake margins. The lakes also support
in-lake plant communities that are extraordinarily valuable in terms of fish production and water
quality functions. Plant communities include emergent aquatic species along the shallow lake
margins and rooted submerged aquatic species in the deeper zones of the lakes. The areal
coverage of lake in the watershed has declined from 7.4% to 6.1% between 1950 and 2004 as
a result of the lowering of lake levels due to surface drainage facilities and reduced ground
water levels.
Reservoirs are artificial impoundments of water. Occupying 85 acres (0.6%) in 1950, this
community type in 2004 occupied 732 acres (5.3%) as urban land uses have expanded in the
watershed. These water features have been constructed in association with residential
development in the watershed and generally are managed to provide aesthetic or stormwater
management functions.
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Sweetwater Creek Watershed Management Plan