ST. LUCIE COUNTY — St. Lucie County officials are moving forward with a series of stormwater projects aimed at improving drainage and water quality, backed by the voter-approved half-cent sales tax and $19 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The projects, many of which are already under construction, are designed to address flooding, upgrade decades-old infrastructure and reduce nutrient pollution flowing into local waterways. To meet federal requirements, funds must be committed by the end of 2024 and work finished by 2026.
“Residents are seeing improvements like better drainage, improved roads and new stormwater ponds,” St. Lucie County Water Quality Division Director James Lappert said in a release. “In some neighborhoods, we are updating things that we hadn’t updated for 50 or 60 years.”
Among the completed projects is the Melville Road Stormwater Improvement – Phase 2, which converted nearly nine acres into a treatment area designed to capture runoff before it reaches the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.
“That’s an awesome project,” Lappert said in the release. “In the middle of that neighborhood, we’ve squeezed it in with all these beautiful wetland plants. After a growing season or two, it’s going to look awesome.”
Other efforts include:
- Stormwater Master Plan: Last updated in the 1990s, the new plan identifies priority basins, uses hydraulic models to guide projects and will inform the county’s 20-year capital improvement plan. Completion is expected in 2025.
- Sunland Gardens study: A feasibility study for a 425-acre neighborhood built before stormwater rules, aimed at creating a phased restoration plan.
- Ancient Oaks Preserve pond: A wet pond constructed to filter runoff before it enters the North Fork. Construction is finished pending certification.
- River Park baffle boxes: Eight filtration structures are planned to reduce nutrient loads. Two are under construction.
- Harmony Heights retrofit: Nearly half finished, this project adds ponds, swales and road upgrades in a neighborhood without stormwater management.
- Indrio Savannahs Preserve pond: A treatment pond and gabion walls are nearly 90% complete, intended to reduce nutrients before discharge into Taylor Creek.
- Sheraton Plaza treatment area: Located west of the Taylor Creek spillway, this project is about 70% finished and includes a shallow treatment system with native vegetation.
- Hog Pen Slough treatment area: In design stages, this facility will target high nitrogen and fecal coliform levels before discharge into the North Fork.
- Ten Mile Creek oxbow restoration: Funded in part by ARP, this project will dredge muck and restore 2,000 feet of the creek and a historic oxbow at George LeStrange Preserve.
Lappert said in the release that long-term planning and targeted retrofits are essential to protect waterways.
“Sunland Gardens was a mini master plan within the stormwater master plan just for that community,” he said. “This will allow us to begin planning new updates for this community in the near future.”