If you had thoughts of launching a kayak or canoe into the portion of the Peace River in Polk County, forget it.
Try farther downstream.
The latest USGS data at Bartow puts the river flow at about 20 percent of average for this time of year and about 50 percent of the amount of water needed to even float a boat downstream, providing you are prepared to portage around deadfalls.
The timing is opportune, though.
On Tuesday the Polk County Commission is scheduled to approve an agreement with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to repair some bank erosion in an area of the river south of Fort Meade.
From the project map, it seems to be close to Polk County’s Peace River Hammock site where the river bends picturesquely south of the confluence of Bowlegs Creek.
There were some major deadfalls in the river channel in that portion of the river last year. Maybe this project will deal with that problem, too.