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Find Blog Articles for Florida’s Condo, HOA and the Management Industry.
Is your eroded shoreline hindering the enjoyment of your waterbody? Enter to win a shoreline makeover and enhance your lake or pond.
Tags: Condo and HOA, Lake Management Articles
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A branded web portal and mobile app make it easy for residents to:
The system automatically notifies residents, board members, and staff, based on their role and notification preferences. In case of an emergency, management has the power to broadcast announcements using voice, text, and email.
Read more about our resident experience and messaging tools.
Maintain a detailed record of anyone and anything that passes through your building. Let residents register guests, set special permissions, and receive real time updates on pickups and deliveries.
BuildingLink’s hardware integrations allow you to scan incoming packages and collect signatures, and the patented KeyLink system lets you share apartment keys with safety and ease.
Read more about our hardware integrations, package module, and KeyLink by BuildingLink.
BuildingLink works like magic to save your employees time, delight your residents, and give you the insights on your building that you need to tackle issues and avoid costly mistakes. Our central dashboard lets you track, search, and monitor everything that matters:
Read more about management tools.
Tags: Management News, Management Tools, SFPMA Members
Florida is famous for its beautiful wetlands, but these natural treasures are threatened by hundreds of different factors, from the composition of bottom sediments to features in the surrounding landscape. The space where these environments meet provides valuable insight about the health and diversity of an aquatic ecosystem. This unique area is called the littoral zone.
The littoral zone is the down-sloping shelf of a pond or lake. This is the area that stretches from the high-water mark to the shore and into the area where sunlight penetrates through to the sediments at the bottom of a waterbody. Although the exact definition of littoral zone can change depending on the waterbody, it is generally considered the shallow area close to the shore in both saltwater and freshwater environments.
When healthy, the littoral zone looks like a miniature wetland. The beneficial plants that grow here often feature purple, white, yellow, or blue flowers that usually bloom all year long in Florida’s climates. These plants may include Golden Canna, Pickerelweed, Southern Blue Flag Iris, Fragrant Water Lily, and Florida Swamp-Lily.
The littoral zone or littoral shelf supports a large number of native plants and aquatic life. Because Florida’s aquatic species are so diverse, some plants can survive partially or completely submerged while others do just fine floating on the water’s surface. Waterbodies that support a wide variety of native plant species tend to provide more nutrients to the native wildlife that are key to maintaining cover and habitat. In addition to supplying food to ponds and lake fish, local plants help maintain balanced levels of oxygen and other key elements.
In addition to protecting the health of lakes or ponds, the littoral zone can enhance the aesthetic appeal of any Florida waterbody. When filled with thriving plants and wildlife, a well-tended littoral zone adds value to the shoreline and even the surrounding property.
A littoral zone helps improve water quality by fostering beneficial species that consume the excess nutrients that contribute to nuisance algae and invasive aquatic weed growth. Additionally, when located near a flow structure, the littoral shelf helps filter out the minerals and nutrients in water before it leaves the lake or pond. This improved water quality has the added benefit of keeping mosquitos at bay and reducing foul odors exuding from the water.
Littoral shelves also help maintain the shoreline and prevent erosion. The native plant roots hold the soil and make the banks more stable and durable, which in turn helps reduce the need for extensive restoration or dredging projects in the future.
Because the littoral zone transitions from dry land to the aquatic environment, it responds to natural and human influences and activities in the land ecosystem as well as the aquatic one. And because it is important for many industrial and recreational purposes, the littoral shelf is often drastically affected by human activities that amplify algal and weed growth, nutrient loading, overgrowth of invasive species as well as cause acidification and fluctuations in the water level. This underscores the importance of the littoral zone and littoral shelf maintenance for the health of lakes and ponds.
When properly established and managed, the littoral zone is less likely to require herbicide or algaecide applications. Recurring proactive management strategies such as nutrient remediation, biological bacteria applications, water quality testing, aeration, Oxygen Saturation Technology (OST), and other sustainable solutions can have a lasting positive impact in Florida’s delicate aquatic environments. A SOL Pro Annual Management program will help any property owner prolong the balance and beauty of their lake or pond’s littoral zone.
At International Subsea Services LLC, we are focused on providing Subsea Solution services with the highest levels of customer satisfaction –
We will do everything we can to meet your expectations with a variety of offerings to choose from, we’re sure you’ll be happy working with us. I am currently an independent contractor and have been in the commercial offshore industry for the past 14 years. I have worked as a Project Manager that produces results for a wide variety of clientele. The base of my experience is in Diving/ ROV operations/ subsea installations and construction projects worldwide. I have performed a variety of jobs such as offshore oil rig subsea operations and completions, flow line jumper, measurement and construction of flexible and rigid jumper pipeline, seabed and rig surveys, onsite intervention projects of various natures in remote locations, First subsea pipeline repair done exclusively with ROV and intervention tooling. ROV intervention SIT’s and FAT’s for a wide variety of equipment including ROV access and tooling interface. We look forward to working with you and joining you Project management team.
During the summer, we all look forward to recreational activities on local lakes and ponds; however, sometimes our plans are canceled due to unsightly, smelly, harmful algal blooms. Knowing a little about how HABs form can help us understand their health effects, ways to identify them, and strategies to prevent them.
Algae are a natural feature in many aquatic ecosystems. Most lakes have some algae growth on a regular basis, especially during the warm summer months, but it is crucial to stay on top of the algae development since blooms can happen quickly – before you know it, there are ugly floating mats on the lake’s surface. Likewise, certain species like cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) can create concerning conditions by releasing dangerous toxins into the water.
Here are some signs that a bloom may be harmful:
Each bloom’s toxicity can vary and it’s hard to predict how dangerous a bloom will be as its toxicity changes daily. If the lake on your property looks like it may be developing dangerous levels of algae growth, take immediate steps. Not all blooms are toxic, and the only way to be sure that a bloom may become toxic is through laboratory testing. However, it can take a few days to collect and test samples, and by then, it may be too late.
Most often, harmful and toxic algal blooms occur because a lake or pond is not healthy. The lake may have an excess nutrient load due to the presence of too much phosphorus and nitrogen. When there are too many of these nutrients in the lake water, algae can overgrow or bloom.
A waterbody’s health can change year over year, depending on the weather and other factors in its surrounding environment. This is why a lake that was seemingly healthy suddenly experiences a bloom. This doesn’t necessarily mean the lake is destined for poor health, but it does indicate that there are imbalances that must be addressed.
Conditions that may change lake health and cause a harmful algal bloom include:
The toxins produced by harmful algal blooms can cause serious health impacts to pets, people, wildlife, and livestock. These health effects can range from skin irritation and rashes, gastrointestinal illnesses, neurological problems, and even death.
Once algae have overgrown enough to cause a large bloom, management can be challenging. Prevention is the best way to ensure harmful algal blooms don’t occur. Association boards and community managers can help prevent or minimize the risk of harmful algal blooms by taking the following steps:
To eliminate algae, the best course of action is to contact a freshwater management professional who can monitor and maintain balanced water quality and advise and apply appropriate management solutions. These professionals will ensure that the lake or pond’s water is clean and healthy and that the levels of algae remain at beneficial, manageable levels.
Tags: Lake Management Articles, Management News
First of all, it is not healthy for them as they become dependent on people for food. The best food for ducks is what they eat naturally— algae, insects and a variety of plants which are abundant in our subtropical climate. Humans most often feed them bread and similar items. These have no nutritional value for the duck. Additionally, feeding by humans makes the ducks reliant on such hand-outs, too lazy to continue foraging for their natural dietary items and uneaten “human” food will rot quickly in warm weather.
Second, feeding ducks encourages them to use the neighborhood as their bathroom, leaving droppings on patios, sidewalks and porches. As a result, controversies frequently arise between residents who enjoy the birds and residents who consider them a nuisance. Even duck lovers have complained about the problem of duck droppings on the lawns, drive-ways, patios, and even in their swimming pools. This is not healthy for people, particularly for the children playing in these areas. Wild ducks can spread disease to humans. When small children, the elderly and persons with immune system problems directly handle newly-hatched chicks, they may be exposed to salmonella. Muscovies can also transmit disease to wild waterfowl. All confirmed outbreaks of DVE, also known as duck plague (a sometimes-devastating viral infection) in wild waterfowl have been linked to domestic ducks. Fowl cholera is another serious disease that is transmittable between domestic and wild waterfowl. Although we have had no major outbreaks reported yet in Florida, the potential for Muscovies to spread this disease to wild waterfowl is a biological concern.
DON’T: Feed ducks bread or junk food. Foods like bread and crackers have no nutritional value to ducks and can cause malnutrition and painful deformities if consumed too much.
DON’T: Leave uneaten food lying around. Leftover food in the water can rot and cause deadly algae blooms that affect local wildlife.
DON’T: Try to pet wild ducks. They may not appreciate your efforts!
Keep a respectful distance and remain nonthreatening, especially to ducklings who may become stressed or injured more easily.
Tags: Condo and HOA, Lake Management Articles, Members Articles
Here at SRI Consultants, Inc., we take pride in what we do. The extra effort and attention to detail put forth by our team ensure you receive the highest quality services available to the industry, all while saving you time and money. Coastal areas like South Florida have a unique need for concrete rehabilitation and protection services predominantly related to assessing structural damage. Our team has specialists in structural engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering and corrosion engineering at your disposal.
We offer engineering services for projects related to single family homes, multi-story structures, condominiums, hotels and motels, cooling towers, and seawalls. All project drawings are prepared using the latest AutoCad software. SRI can also deliver projects in Revit Architectural and Revit Structural.
It’s among the worst plumbing problems anyone can imagine. While big leaks or exploding pipes definitely aren’t pleasant, having sewage backing up your pipes into your home or basement is something most homeowners wouldn’t wish on their worst enemy. But it’s a problem that many people face. If you suspect your plumbing system might be at risk for a sewage backup, or you’ve had problems with this issue yourself, it’s important to know the risks involved and what you should do when this issue strikes.
Tags: Plumbing Articles, Ronnie-G “The Pipe Guy”
Shoreline erosion can be detrimental to the health of your waterbody as well as the safety and value of your property.
Most communities throughout Florida utilize lakes and ponds to enhance the aesthetics of homes and golf courses, as well as support recreational opportunities such as boating and fishing for residents. The majority of these waterbodies were man-made for practical and functional purposes, such as capturing stormwater to prevent flooding or storing water to use for irrigation. Unfortunately, natural erosion of the shoreline is inevitable. It is an issue that only gets worse over time and should be addressed immediately, followed by consistent monitoring.
Shoreline erosion is a serious issue for waterbodies of all sizes and uses. It can degrade shoreline property, increase the risk of flooding, interfere with recreational opportunities, and threaten aesthetic appeal. In many cases, the deep cracks and gullies that appear can expose sprinkler systems, drainage pipes, and electrical cables, leading to costly repairs. Likewise, due to the effects of erosion, lakefront homeowners may find that their property decreases in size and value over time.
When slopes become too steep, the shoreline can also become unsafe for residents, children, pets, and recreationers. Steep slopes increase the risk of someone falling into the lake and being injured. The steepness of the slope can also make it hard for someone to get out of the lake when they fall in. This can pose a significant liability for HOAs, golf courses, commercial properties, and private homeowners.
Erosion has many natural causes:
The presence of nuisance fish and wildlife such as invasive armored catfish and otters that burrow into banks and cause them to collapse
Although these causes are natural, human activities can also increase the rate of erosion:
Despite the best efforts of HOAs, golf course superintendents, and municipalities, all waterbodies will experience erosion to some degree. However, there are many strategies to control or mitigate erosion.
Planting deep-rooted grasses and flowering vegetation will help retain, hold and stabilize the soil. This ground cover also helps to deter nuisance and invasive species from entering the aquatic ecosystem. It is imperative to use native plants rather than exotic species that are known to damage the habitat that nurtures beneficial fish, birds, and other wildlife.
Bioengineered erosion control technology is an excellent tool to restore shorelines and mitigate future erosion. Knitted ShoreSOX® and DredgeSOX® repurpose eroded muck by anchoring it to the shoreline for lasting stability. SOX solutions integrate naturally into the landscape and can be planted directly with vegetation for further erosion protection.
With riprap, rocks are placed over a filter blanket to keep the soil in place. Similar to riprap, root trap is achieved by covering the rocks with topsoil and installing native, deep-rooted plants that contain the sediment in place as they grow.
Bulkheads and retaining walls can be effective at controlling the effects of erosion; however, if not installed correctly, they run the risk of falling into the water or eroding from underneath and becoming unsafe.
Coir logs or fiber roll material can be installed to slow down the movement of the water or create a “pooling” effect that allows sediment to filter out. They can be made of natural or synthetic fibers or a blend of straw, coconut fiber, or polypropylene (plastic).
Call us at 866-781-8904 or complete the form below to get connected with an aquatic management expert.
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