Construction to start on US Everglades water quality improvement project

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has approved a contract to commence construction on a $59.9m water quality improvement project south of Lake Okeechobee.

The project will create a reservoir to capture and store storm water during the wet season or heavy rainfall events. The design is complete and all necessary permits have been secured by Central Florida Equipment Rentals, allowing the company to start the construction work.

SFWMD governing board chairman Daniel O’Keefe said that this is an important step for the Everglades, as science and planning become a working construction project for achieving water quality goals.

"Building this expansive storage site will significantly improve our ability to remove nutrients and further improve Florida’s famed River of Grass," O’Keefe said.

The A-1 Flow Equalization Basin (FEB) is capable of holding 60,000 acre-feet of water. Vegetation planted in the site such as bulrush and cattail will help to reduce the concentration of phosphorus in the water. The water will then be directed south into wetlands constructed to remove nutrients, as it flows south into Everglades National Park.

The A-1 FEB will utilise the work already completed at the site for a reservoir that was originally planned to provide deep water storage, dubbed the EAA Reservoir.

SFWMD operates a network of five stormwater treatment areas south of Lake Okeechobee with a treatment area of 57,000 acres. In June 2012, Florida and the US Environmental Protection Agency reached a consensus on new strategies for improving water quality in America’s Everglades.

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Image: The project will create a reservoir to capture and store storm water during the wet season or heavy rainfall events. Photo: courtesy of South Florida Water Management District.