Study being conducted of nutrients in stormwater runoff

Cleaning our water through stormwater treatment areas and wetlands plays a crucial role in Everglades protection and restoration. Even the tiniest organism can play a huge role in cutting down on nutrients, like phosphorous, in our stormwater runoff.

Before water reaches the Everglades, it has to be cleaned. Barry Rosen is a professor at the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. “We don’t want to move water around that isn’t meeting water quality standards,” said Rosen.

One way to filter that water is through stormwater treatment areas or STAs in the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee. Think of these STAs as mini man-made wetlands. “Those stormwater treatment areas are supposed to bring phosphorus concentrations down before that water is released into the Everglades,” Rosen said.

But what happens if those areas don’t clean as well as they could? “How do we get these stormwater treatment areas to be more efficient, pulling more phosphorus out before it ever is released?” Rosen said.