This total includes a series of aquifer storage and recovery wells adjacent to Lake Okeechobee with a total capacity of 1-billion gallons per day and associated pre- and post- water quality treatment in Glades and Okeechobee Counties.

The initial design assumes 200 wells, each with the capacity of 5 million gallons per day with 8-ultrafiltration water quality pre-treatment facilities and aeration for post-treatment.

Based on information from existing aquifer storage and recovery facilities studied, it is assumed that recovery of aquifer-stored water would have no adverse effects on water quality conditions in Lake Okeechobee. In fact, some level of nutrient load reduction may occur as a result of aquifer storage, which would be a long-term benefit to in-lake water quality conditions.

The level and extent of treatment and number of the aquifer storage and recovery wells may be modified based on findings from the Lake Okeechobee Aquifer Storage and Recovery Pilot Project. The pilot project will also investigate changes to water chemistry resulting from aquifer storage and identify post-retrieval water quality treatment requirements, if any, necessary to implement aquifer storage and recovery facilities.

The Comprehensive Plan includes pilot studies to investigate the feasibility of the aquifer storage and recovery facilities, including water quality changes associated with aquifer storage and recovery.

The purpose of this project is to:
1) provide additional regional storage while reducing both evaporation losses and the amount of land removed from current land use (e.g. agriculture) that would normally be associated with construction and operation of above-ground storage reservoirs;
2) increase the Lake's water storage capability to better meet regional water supply demands for agriculture, Lower East Coast urban areas and the Everglades;
3) manage a portion of regulatory releases from the Lake primarily to improve Everglades hydropatterns and to meet supplemental water supply demands of the Lower East Coast;
4) reduce harmful regulatory discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries and
5) maintain and enhance the existing level of flood protection.

The operation of this project assumes that after treatment, water from Lake Okeechobee will be injected into the upper Floridan Aquifer when the climate-based inflow model forecasts that the Lake water level will rise significantly above those levels that are desirable for the Lake littoral zone. During the dry season, water stored in the Floridan Aquifer will be returned to the Lake after aeration either when the Lake water level is projected to fall to within three quarters of a foot of the supply-side management line or below an established water level during the dry season.