Deep Bottom Creek has bottomed out: Why? | News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The water is so clear you can stand on the docks and see the bottom of Deep Bottom Creek. But what you're looking at is deceiving.

"It is not like it was 100 feet deep, but it was enough that I could get my boat in and out," said Roslyn Karstedt.

In November, Karstedt and her family purchased a home on the creek. When they moved in, they were able to use their boat, but not today.

"We signed a letter asking the city for help. We don't want anything except our waterway back," she said. 

Since November, she and her neighbors have watched the creek they love turn into an impassible body of water. There's so much sedimentation, there are sandbars everywhere.

"There were Manatees, schools of fish," said Karstedt. "There were birds and wildlife and they're not here. It is hurting the environment that we've come accustomed of seeing."

The heavy silt build up in the creek affects about 13 households.

"We wanted waterfront property and we wanted access to the river. We don't have it anymore," she said.

And she said there's an impact on property values.

"If I can't get watercraft in and out, I've lost $100,000 to $250,000 on this property," she said, "and I just bought this home."

Residents believe the dirt is from a nearby JEA project. The creek is in Councilman Matt Schellenberg's district. He said that this has been investigated.

"They've done analysis and they've come back and said it wasn't from their property right around the corner," he said.

Now the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the St. Johns Water Management District are investigating.

"They're now investigating to find out what is the source of the problem," said Schellenberg.

Schellenberg said next week, investigators will have an answer; if it is related to a construction issue, they will address that once they know what caused the problem.

"It had to come from somewhere," said Karstedt.

The residents are not so interested in blaming someone as they are in getting the creek restore to the condition it was nine months ago.