Written By Max Chesnes, Treasure Coast Newspapers
August 18, 2021
State water managers cut the ribbon Wednesday on Bluefield Grove, a $2.7 million stormwater storage and treatment project in western St. Lucie
August 18, 2021
Photo: SFWMD
County.
The 6,600-acre “water farm” is designed to reduce nutrient loads and excess surface water discharges from the C-23 Basin entering the St. Lucie Estuary, according to the South Florida Water Management District.
What is a Water Farm? Private landowners have unused citrus land. The state is dealing with excess water, dumped by rainstorms and mucked by pollutants, that usually winds up in the river. Why not store that water on the land?
Drew Bartlett, SFWMD Executive Director, explained the process — called dispersed water management — this way: “Take a system that is drained to our estuaries, and undrain it.”
“Let the water do what it’s supposed to do: Interact with the vegetation and attract the wildlife. That’s what dispersed water management is.”
Read the story online:
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/2021/08/18/heres-how-6-600-acre-water-farm-could-help-st-lucie-river/8115038002/