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Lake Apopka is one of the largest lakes in Florida in the United States. It is located west
of Orlando and mostly in Orange
County, but the western part is in Lake County.
Fed by a natural spring, rainfall and stormwater runoff, water from Lake Apopka
flows through the Apopka-Beauclair
Canal and into Lakes
Beauclair and Dora. From Lake Dora, water flows into Lake
Eustis, then into Lake Griffin
and then northward into the Ocklawaha River, which flows into the St.
Johns River. Through the 1940s, Lake
Apopka was one of central Florida?s main
attractions. Anglers traveled from throughout the United
States fish for trophy-sized bass in Lake Apopka,
and 21 fish camps lined the lake?s shoreline.
Lake Apopka has a history of more than 100 years of human
alteration, beginning with construction of the Apopka-Beauclair Canal
in 1888. In 1941, a levee was built along the north shore to drain 20,000 acres
(80 km?) of shallow marsh for farming. The discharge of water, rich in
nutrients from agricultural and other sources, produced conditions that created
a chronic algal bloom and resulted in loss of the lake?s recreational value and
game fish populations.