Protecting one of the biologically most diverse estuary systems in the continental U.S. is the goal of a Florida project now in the earliest stage of development. On Aug. 14, Shoreline Foundation Inc., West Park, Fla., won the contract to construct the C-44 system discharge for the C-44 reservoir and stormwater treatment area in Martin County, Fla., a major component of the $13.5-billion Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).
At approximately $5.4 million, the system-discharge contract is a tiny but critical piece of CERP, whose costs are equally shared by the federal government and Florida. Completing it will clear the way for hundreds of millions of dollars in other projects. The system discharge will be the single-point discharge for 50,600 acre-ft of local runoff water in the C-44 reservoir and stormwater treatment area (STA). The STA will receive the water from the reservoir and cleanse it before discharging it to the C-44 Canal.