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Section 2 Existing Conditions/Affected Environment

EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006

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Additionally, Furse and Fox (1994) revealed that numerous sportfish occur in

the littoral zone. The largemouth bass is one of the most popular gamefish in

the State of Florida, and is a major predator of small fish, amphibians, birds,

and reptiles. Additionally, the black crappie, bluegill, and redear sunfish are

sportfish found in high numbers in the littoral zone.

Macroinvertebrate species found by the USACE include the apple snail, an

important food resource of the snail kite, crayfish, grass shrimp, and Dytiscid

beetles.

Significant changes have been observed on the lake. Valuable fish habitat

including bulrush, spike rush, and SAV has been lost and/or replaced by exotic

species such as torpedograss and hydrilla. Reports of muddy, turbid water and

drowned vegetation are not uncommon among the public and fisherman.

Fishing guides report fish spawning has been poor for the last five years. Others

report that shiners (an important bait fish) are becoming increasingly difficult to

find and more and more fisherman are forced to the same areas to fish for them.

Peppergrass, a floating, leafed aquatic species, important as fish habitat, occurs

in deeper water. Once abundant on the lake, it has been severely impacted and

is observed mostly in isolated parts of the south end of the lake, notably South

Bay. In many people’s opinion, these adverse effects are largely due to the

sustained high water events persistent on the lake.

A major area of concern to the life cycle of fish and wildlife species is the western

littoral zone and marsh, which is representative of similar littoral resources

around the lake. The western littoral zone provides tremendous foraging and

nesting habitat for a wide range of avifauna. Previous studies (Smith and

Collopy, 1995; David, 1994) have documented birds (including state and

federally-listed species) such as wood stork, snail kite, great blue heron, white

ibis, pied-billed grebe, great egret, snowy egret, little blue heron, tricolor heron,

and common moorhen in the area. Other birds that may utilize the littoral zone

include the threatened bald eagle, black skimmer, brown pelican, double-crested

cormorant, and anhinga.

According to range maps presented by Conant and Collins (1991), reptile and

amphibian diversity should be quite high in littoral and marsh areas of the lake.

Studied species on Lake Okeechobee include the American alligator and the

Florida soft-shelled turtle. Currently, no published inventories are available on

the diversity of reptiles and amphibians inhabiting the western littoral zone of

Lake Okeechobee.

The USACE found large numbers of the greater siren along with the green water

snake and the banded water snake. Additional common species sampled

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Wenger 72944 Spezifikationen Seite 81