CH2M HILL secures wetlands restoration contract

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has awarded a contract to CH2M HILL to provide professional engineering services as part of an $880m plan to restore the Everglades.

The Everglades, one of the largest US freshwater wetland systems, once covered nearly 11,000 square miles of South Florida. It is home to dozens of threatened and endangered species.

Efforts to drain the marshland for agriculture, development and flood control have reduced the Everglades to half the size it was a century ago.

CH2M HILL programme manager Chris Niforatos said that SFWMD’s mission is to protect water resources and restore the Everglades’ ecosystem.

"We look forward to contributing our expertise in design and construction management services for large-scale earthworks and conveyance projects to help SFWMD manage and protect this precious wetland system," Niforatos added.

The company is also working with the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) on its Watershed Management Program, which aims to develop flood risk information for watersheds throughout west-central Florida.

CH2M HILL secured four other contracts from SWFWMD in February, including two general engineering contracts for conveyance and natural systems, as well as contracts for the Watershed Management Program and a Hydrogeological Investigation of the Lower Floridan Aquifer, to help SWFWMD manage water and water-related resources in southwest Florida.