Lake Myakka and the Myakka River depend on the rain to supply water for it. The level of Lake Myakka fluctuates from season to season. In the summer and fall the level will rise with the rainy seasons. In the winter (the dry season) the level of the lake can go down drastically.
A dam or Weir was placed at the outlet to the Upper Myakka Lake between 1936 and 1941. It was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to regulate lake levels. Then, in 1974, six, 60” diameter pipes with inverts approximately 4 feet below the dam spillway were placed adjacent to the dam. This has helped to return the lake to it's more natural drier state.
Depending on when you visit the level of the lake can be very shallow or very high. This past fall (2014) the water level rose so high that most of the park was flooded and closed to visitors.
Flood waters at picnic pavilion
Flood waters at Cabin 4
To Log a find please answer the following by email:
1.At R1 river's mouth. When you visited was the water flowing into the river? What was the direction of flow?
2.At R1 estimate how wide the river is.
3.Take a elevation reading at the edge of the river.
4.Not mandatory, post a picture.
Please do not post the answers in your log.
Cache has been approved by Myakka State Park Service Specialist Teresa Good & Asst Park Manager Jill Parnell. A big Thank You to Asst Park Manager Jill Parnell for her help with the flooding pictures and approval of this cache.