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Deal Cut For 4 Homes Needed In Peace River Restoration

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By BILLY TOWNSEND | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 27, 2007

Previous Coverage: Residents To Lose Homes To Plan

BARTOW - State water managers have reached a deal to purchase four of the homes they need to destroy in order to raise the level of Lake Hancock and restore the flow of the upper Peace River in Polk County.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District governing board agreed Monday to buy the four homes for a total of $1.4 million, said Robin Hanke, a district spokeswoman.

Lake Hancock forms the headwaters of the Peace River. The project will raise the lake's water level, allowing it to store more water that can be released into the Upper Peace River during dry periods. Swiftmud, another name for the water authority, considers the Lake Hancock project "a critical component of the District's recovery strategy for meeting the minimum flows in the Upper Peace River."

The four homes purchased Monday are the first of 33 needed to make the project work, Swiftmud says. If it cannot reach a settlement with a homeowner, the district says, it will use eminent domain to take the home.

Swiftmud already had acquired 6,425 acres of property around the lake as part of the Upper Peace River to Tenorac (Green Swamp) Greenway Corridor. This project will require the acquisition of an additional 1,902 acres, including 60 pieces of property and 29 more homes.

The district has set aside up to $160 million for property purchases.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a conceptual environmental resource permit to the district in June to raise the control elevation of the outflow structure from 98.7 feet above sea level to the lake's historical level of 100 feet.

The project is expected to take approximately three years to finish; that includes land acquisition as well as the final design, permitting and construction.

Lake Hancock, located between Bartow, Lakeland and Winter Haven, is a 4,500-acre lake in the headwaters of the Peace River watershed, which extends 120 miles downstream to Charlotte Harbor, an estuary of national significance.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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