Grand opening of Lakes Regional Park Water Quality Restoration Project on Feb. 7th

The public is invited to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for Lakes Park Water Quality Restoration Project on February 7 at 10:00 a.m. The ceremony will be held at 7330 Gladiolus Drive in Fort Myers.

Lakes Regional Park is located north of Gladiolus Drive and east of Summerlin Road in Lee County.

The lakes within the regional park are the headwaters of Hendry Creek which encompass approximately 2000-acres of land in central Lee County. Water quality data has shown an increasing trend of high nutrient levels within these lakes.

The Lakes Park Water Quality Restoration project funded by Lee County, the South Florida Water Management District, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, constructed a filter marsh consisting of meandering wetlands in both the East and West Lakes within the park. This new filter marsh, designed by Aim Engineering, Inc., consists of a series of “peninsulas” alternating from the east to west banks of the West Lake and East Lake to create a sinuous flow path similar to the Reflection Lakes Flow Way to the north. Native wetland plants are installed with littoral areas in the flow path. This winding flow path maximizes the flow distance and contact time between the lake water and the native wetland plants surrounding the peninsulas which absorb excess nutrients from the water for plant growth thereby resulting in an improvement to the overall water quality.

Improving the water quality at Lakes Regional Park improves downstream conditions in Hendry Creek which finally outfalls into Estero Bay. Hendry Creek, an Outstanding Florida Waterbody, is impaired water as determined by the Florida Department Environmental Protection. Estero Bay is Florida’s first aquatic preserve.