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Charter of FOTC - August 14, 2002
"The FOTC (Friends of Turkey Creek) is a volunteer group composed of
homeowners on the Turkey Creek waterway. Our commitment is to achieve a balanced environment for the Turkey Creek and Indian
River Lagoon ecosystem while retaining waterway access for the community. We work with a variety of government, business,
private and non-profit agencies to promote the positive reconciliation of city area growth and wildlife enhancement in the
Turkey Creek watershed.
Project Listing:
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The
FOTC is working with SJRWMD (St. John’s River Water Management District), MTWCD (Melbourne Tillman Water Control District),
and the City of Palm Bay to expedite the completion of Phase I of the C-1 Rediversion Plan. (See below)
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The FOTC is working
with the City of Palm Bay in applying for a dredging permit for all of Turkey Creek from the Port Malabar Bridge to the Indian
River Lagoon. Representative John Tobia and John Mongioi have both spoken to DEP Secretary Michael Sole who has shown an interest
in assisting us with this permit. The City of Palm Bay hopes to have a permit by the spring of 2010. (See below)
Public Information Meeting was held November 30th - Topic:
Turkey Creek Dredging & C-1 Re-Diversion Program.
The meeting was well attended with around 100 people present.
Pictures and notes from the meeting Click Here!
Flyer & Agenda
| Turkey Creek, as seen from the air.. |
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| Photo Credit: Mat O'Malley |
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| Click to Read Article! |
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| Photo by Ed Garland |
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FOTC PROJECT UPDATES 06/06/09
C-1 Canal Re-diversion
The FOTC has been working with the SJRWMD and the City of Palm
Bay in an effort to come up with a feasible C-1 Rediversion plan. Phase I of the new present plan will accomplish much of
the benefits of the full C-1 Re-diversion plan. Phase I consists of three parts:
1) Construction of the SLWMA (Sawgrass Lakes Water Management
Area) pump stations and outlet. This part is almost complete and should be operational around the spring of 2010.
2) Modification of the MS-1 structure to a 10-foot weir
with six Armtek overshot gates. The present gates allow water to flow out of the bottom and this allows a lot of sediment
to come through the MS-1 structure into Turkey Creek. The new gates will only allow water to flow over the top and should
significantly reduce the amount of sediment escaping into Turkey Creek.
3) Changing the regulation schedule of the water behind
the MS-1 structure to an elevation of 10 feet year round.
Maintenance Dredging & Permit
The last successful dredging of most of the shallow areas of Turkey
Creek was completed in the spring of 2007. At the same time, a 10 foot deep sump was also put in at the confluence of Jersey
Waterway and Turkey Creek (sediment trap just downstream of the Port Malabar bridge) in an effort to capture future sediments
coming into the creek and delaying future needs to dredge. Since that time, tropical storm Fay came through in August 2008.
A new water flow record of around 4000 cfs (cubic feet per second) was set. The sediment that settled out in Turkey Creek
from this storm was enough to nullify all the dredging that was accomplished earlier by the City of Palm Bay. The city of
Palm Bay is now applying for a permit to dredge Turkey Creek again but not just the shallow areas. They are requesting a permit
to dredge from the Port Malabar Bridge to the Indian River Lagoon. We hope to have this permit by the spring of 2010. The
bad news is that the City of Palm Bay is caught in a budget crunch like every other government agency and there is no funding
available for dredging in the near future.
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