Lake Restoration Proposal

Lake Cherokee gives the neighborhood its name, and shapes its daily life — the herons along the bank, the evening light on the water. But the lake is in trouble. In 2025 it recorded its poorest water quality in nearly four decades of City of Orlando monitoring. Algal blooms fouled the air, a fish kill left dead bass and bluegill along the shoreline, and the water became unsafe for recreation.

The record also shows the lake can recover — it was clear and healthy as recently as 2016. In March 2026 the Lake Cherokee Neighborhood Association submitted a Water Quality Assessment & Ecological Restoration Proposal to the City of Orlando. Prepared with a professional environmental engineer, it lays out what four decades of data show and proposes a restoration built around native aquatic plants and ecological management rather than chemical treatment alone, with the City as a partner.

The proposal commits the Association to contribute aerial drone surveys, regular water sampling, shoreline cleanups, and native plantings along the lake’s edge. The full proposal is below.