This feature is located in St. Lucie County north and west of C-23 between control structures G-78 and G-79 and includes a 4,155-acre aboveground reservoir with a maximum depth of 12-feet. The total storage capacity of the reservoir is approximately 43,400 acre-feet, according to the project implementation report.
This feature is located in St. Lucie County and includes a 2,568-acre Stormwater Treatment Area with a maximum depth of 4 feet and a normal operating depth of 2 feet. It is designed to remove 80% of the phosphorus from stormwater entering the C-23/24 reservoirs. The STA is located east of C-24 between control structures G-81 and G-79.
This feature is located in St. Lucie County and includes a 741-acre aboveground reservoir with a maximum depth of 8-feet and a 163-acre STA. The Reservoir will capture the first 0.4 inches of runoff from both the C-25 Basin and the Ft. Pierce Farms Basin (approximately 147,225 acres) , according to the project implementation report. The STA was sized to treat 80% of the phosphorus load entering the STA from the reservoir. The total storage capacity of the reservoir and STA is approximately 5,392 acre-feet and is located north of and adjacent to C-25 at the S-99 structure.
Natural storage and water quality treatment areas include acquisition of approximately 90,000 acres of upland/wetland mosaic; plugging of existing secondary drainage ditches to remove discharge into C&SF Project system canals; an effective storage capacity of 30,000 acre-feet or about 10 billion gallons of water; and phosphorus and nitrogen reduction in the St. Lucie River and Estuary and Indian River Lagoon prior to runoff into east coast canals. The SFWMD has acquired approximately half of the land needed to restore the Allapattah natural area to its historically natural condition. It has also completed contracts for ditch filling and structure upgrades. The property has been opened to the public for passive recreation usage. Contract work will continue with berming, ditch filling, structure upgrade throughout this project feature.
Diversion of existing watershed flows, an operational constraint, has two goals: diversion of C-23 and C-24 discharges into the North Fork rather than near the middle Estuary of the St. Lucie River, and diversion of C-23 flows to the C-44 canal where they will be directed to the St. Lucie River's South Fork.
Muck remediation for artificial habitat will remove 7.9 million cubic yards of muck from four hot spots" located in the North Fork, South Fork and middle Estuary of the St. Lucie River. This will provide 1,300 acres of new substrate in order for organisms to re-colonize.
This feature includes acquisition and preservation of approximately 3,100 acres of floodplain and adjacent lands, which will receive an additional 64,500 acre-feet of flow via the northern diversion efforts. The North Fork lands are extremely important in linking the estuary to the watershed. Preservation will provide such water quality and environmental benefits as removing nutrients, maintaining valuable wading bird habitat, and serving as a nursery for many of the recreationally and commercially important fish species that spend certain life stages in this area.