A Goat in Lake Roberta?

Anyone who has walked, ran, or even driven around Lake Roberta recently has noticed an exotic looking string of green orbs attached to the west end of the bank surrounding the drain.  This isn't a device meant to catch fish, turtles, or even anyone's attention.  The device known as a Water Goat (details here ), was recently installed with funding from a grant that was requested from and approved by the Tampa Bay Estuary Association.

This simple device is a string of bouys anchored to the bank of the lake, and is designed to float upon the surface of the waterline, regardless of the lake's volume.  The attached netting extends up to 18 inches beneath the lake surface, and the entire apparatus is designed to catch floating and semi-submerged debris before it can flow freely into the lake.   Just this last weekend this newest garbage-control mechanism was put to the test with a rare Florida winter rain, and seems to have done the job perfectly.  If noticed, it has already captured several soda and water bottles that flowed in from Nebraska Avenue during that time.

In addition to keeping the free-flowing debris from floating aimlessly into the lake and creating a hazard for the lake's ecosystem as well as create an eyesore, this virtually maintenence-free mechanism will provide a convenient receptacle to capture and collect these items by the monthly clean-up efforts, as well as helpful neighbors, before they need to be individually identified and collected, thus saving time and effort.  According to Watergoat.org, several of these devices have been custom-made and installed in multiplel locations in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, and has been consistently lauded as a valuable tool to decrease pollution, improve local ecosystems, and have helped neighborhood efforts to keep their local bodies of water free from man-made trash and debris.

Along with the combined efforts of the Save Lake Roberta Committee, Greg Barnhill deserves special recognition.  His diligence and attention to detail was instrumental in preparing the grant application and securing the funding to ensure that the newest member of the extended Lake Roberta family will be a substantial improvement to the community for some time to come.  He will be sharing his story with Kathy Steele of The Tampa Tribune, to be published on Wednesday, January 20th, as well as in a televised interview with Bay News 9, to be aired on Saturday, January 23rd (which should run about every 30 minutes or so).

The Lake Roberta committee is proud of this helpful addition, and will be equally excited to share future endeavours and results!