St. Lucie County - Wednesday April 5, 2023: The Richard E. Becker Preserve will be closed for several weeks, beginning Friday, April 7 as St. Lucie County’s Environmental Resources Department begins phase II of the septic-to-sewer conversion.
The construction of a sewage lift station will connect the center at the Becker Preserve to the central sewer operated by the Fort Pierce Utility Authority (FPUA). St. Lucie County has partnered with South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) Indian River Lagoon License Plate Fund, which provided $100,019 in grant funding for the project’s construction.
According to the Florida Department of Health, which permits septic tanks, there are 27,052 “known” septic tanks in St. Lucie County and an estimated 7,032 are likely within flood zones of waterways like the North Fork St. Lucie River, St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon. Septic tanks placed prior to 1983 are not designed to treat the wastewater effluent produced by the households the tanks serve. Much of the homes and businesses along the waterfront of the upper North Fork and Ten Mile Creek, including the Richard E. Becker Preserve, were developed prior to 1983.
The St. Lucie River and Estuary Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) includes the septic tank phase out program as a priority for reducing total nitrogen and phosphate loads entering the St. Lucie River estuary. Between 2013 and 2015, the City of Port St. Lucie phased out 571 septic tanks and reduced the total nitrogen by 3,492 pounds per year. Based on those calculations, the total nitrogen reduction could be upwards of 6.11 pounds per year, once the septic tank at the Richard E. Becker Preserve and Eco-Heritage Center is phased out.
Located at 3398 Selvitz Road, the Richard E. Becker Preserve is a 13-acre natural area purchased using voter-approved Environmentally Significant Lands program funds, matched with Florida Community Trust grant funds.
Purchased through a voter-approved bond referendum, St. Lucie County manages more than 10,000 acres of preserves that are open to the public for passive recreation. For more information about St. Lucie County’s Environmentally Significant Lands, visit: www.stluciepreserves.com.