Water-Related News

Lee Board of County Commissioners amends grant agreement for water project

Fort Myers – The Lee Board of County Commissioners today approved a grant amendment agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to increase total grant funding to $2 million for the Nalle Grade Stormwater Project.

The project is designed to intercept stormwater runoff from the Bayshore Creek watershed just downstream of Nalle Grade Road. Water will be pumped from an existing channelized section of the waterway and placed into a settling area for pre-treatment. Then, it will be delivered into a restored wetland area for further pollutant removal before returning to Bayshore Creek. The system is designed to bypass flood flows when major storm events occur so as not to contribute to area flooding.

The Caloosahatchee estuary has a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) designation for Total Nitrogen and an adopted State of Florida Basin Management Action Plan to lower this pollutant. Commissioners spend millions of dollars annually on projects to reduce pollutants in the estuary.

Construction is expected to begin in January 2019. The total cost of the project is estimated at $3.2 million, which includes the grant funding.