The Army Corps of Engineers broke ground Friday morning on the second phase of the Indian River Lagoon South Project, a three part project that will help restore the environmental health of the St. Lucie River and the southern portion of the Indian River Lagoon.
”We’re already breaking ground on a second phase of this monumental project to protect a very special place, the Indian River Lagoon. It’s the most biologically diverse estuary system in the continental United States,” said Army Corps Colonel James Booth who is in charge of the construction.
“This new piece of infrastructure is key to restoring this natural treasure," said Booth. "In addition it will also benefit the north fork of the St. Lucie River which has been designated as an aquatic preserve by the state of Florida.”
Five water holding cells will be built in an area about 12 miles west of Fort Pierce on the north side of State Road 70. The cells are designed to capture the runoff from more than 2,500 acres within the canal 23 and 24 water basins. The water will slowly filter through the cells, capturing and removing plant materials, phosphorous, nitrogen and sediments.
The process will not completely eliminate all contaminants. In the case of phosphorous, Booth said the holding tanks would remove roughly 50% of that chemical from the water once it has gone through the filters and before is discharged back into the watershed.
A number of state and local environmental and elected officials were on hand for the groundbreaking.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service State Supervisor Larry Williams pointed out that the deteriorating water quality in the Lagoon over the past few years has resulted in the loss of about fifty to seventy thousand acres of sea grass. Sea grass is the primary food source for manatees.
“This past year … I think we lost 1,100 manatees,” said Williams, and the majority died in the Indian River Lagoon. “Most of the ones who have been lost is because of starvation," he said. "We gotta get the water quality right in the lagoon for the sea grasses to be functioning … so this project is going to be a big help."
“I feel that our environmental future is on the right road,” said St. Lucie County Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson. “This project will convert 26-hundred acres of agricultural land into a major county water quality improvement that will benefit not just St. Lucie County but our surrounding areas downstream.”
The treatment plant is expected to take 4 years to complete at an estimated cost of $136 million.
Phase 3 of the Indian River Lagoon South Project will involve the construction of a reservoir just north of the treatment plant now being built. That project said Booth will "pull the water out of the canals, put it into that northern reservoir and hold it there so we have the right timing to kind of meter that out (to) the stormwater treatment area … so that we can use the system more efficiently over the wet and dry seasons.”
The contract for Phase 3 is expected to be signed next year.