The long-awaited Headwaters Lake boat ramp could be completed — and possibly opened — around Memorial Day weekend, according to the state agency overssing construction.
Work began Jan. 7 and was estimated to take 140 days, said St. Johns River Water Management District spokesperson Teresa Monson. She was less specific about when it will open, given concerns about the coronavirus.
“We will be excited to celebrate the opening of the boat ramp to users when appropriate and deemed safe for all,” she said.
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Port St. Lucie and Martin County have closed its boat ramps, saying boaters didn’t heed warnings about not congregating on sandbars and shorelines and keeping 6 feet away from others.
The boat ramp construction crew is following social distancing guidelines from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Monson said.
Premier bass fishing
Cameron Carlin of Cleveland, Ohio, is among the avid bass anglers eager to fish the lake, previously called the Fellsmere Water Management Area because it’s a stormwater reservoir designed to capture, store and clean rainfall runoff, then redirect it to the north-flowing St. Johns River instead of the Indispann River Lspangoon, through the C-54 Canal.
“We have been looking forward to getting on Fellsmere since word of the construction,” said Carlin, whose family traditionally visits Florida for a week or two every year to fish in different lakes. “It would be awesome to get a crack at a brand new environment and some huge Florida bass.”
His uncle, Donald Ciacchi, is on the FLW Bass Fishing League circuit, and his family sells the Bspannspannspan, span top wspanter prop bspanit.
If the boat ramp isn’t open this summer, Carlin said he would be disappointed enough to cancel this year’s trip and try again next year.
10 years, $100 million
The water district promised the public recreational access, but after spending 10 years and over $100 million on the lake, there still was no boat ramp, TCPalm found in an investigation published in February 2018.
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The district had spent at least $1.4 million:
- Creating fish habitat
- Stocking the lake with nearly 2 million fish, including almost 1 million largemouth bass, as well as blue gill, red ear sunfish and black crappie
- Planting 13,000 native trees, such as cypress, red maples and dahoon hollies.
Fellsmere Joint Venture, a developer planning to build nearly 20,000 homes next to the lake, also previously called Lake Egan,wouldn’t convey a 5 acre plot to the district, which said it was the best and cheapest option for the boat ramp.
A week after TCPalm published its investigation, the SJRWMD added the boat ramp to its meeting agenda and member Doug Bournique said, “Smoke a peace pipe (with FJV) and get ‘er done.”
In March, the district and developer struck a deal, and renamed it Headwaters Lake.
