Construction plans called for completion of a perimeter dike around the subject section of islands, with the dike carried inside of a shell
midden to avoid flooding tropical vegetation found there. A pump house allowed flooding of the impoundment during the summer rainy season when mosquito breeding is most intense. Flapper valve gates at the north and south ends of the impoundment were installed to allow closure during flooding and opening during the dry season to allow water exchange with the lagoon. A test cell was constructed so as to be flooded separately from the main impoundment. This area was to be flooded sufficiently to inundate black mangrove (
Avicennia germinans)
pneumatophores, in hopes that stress could be detected by false infrared aerial photography. Several flights were flown but stress could not be detected by remote sensing before it was evident on the ground. This is thought to have been due to the propensity for black mangroves to drop their leaves all at once rather than slowly enough for color changes to be picked up in the photographs. Active management of the impoundment ended in the early 1980s. ==Notes==