WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and ALJO Groves, L.C., along with many local, state, and federal officials held a ribbon cutting to recognize the completion of the ALJO Four Corners Rapid Infiltration Project in Lee County on July 25.

this project stores excess water from the local watershed to help support the balance of fresh and salt water in the Caloosahatchee Estuary. The SFWMD partners with private landowners and communities as part of  efforts to improve water quality around the region.

This project has many benefits including:

• Creates 20,000 acre-feet of new water storage.
• Removes 1.2 metric tons per year of total phosphorus.
• Removes 39+ metric tons per year of total nitrogen.

This project will increase water and nutrient retention by operating a 22-acre rapid infiltration area, 97-acre seepage area, 3 inflow pump stations and associated water control structures and ditch improvements.

The ALJO Four Corners Rapid Infiltration Project works by pumping water onto project lands, where it will then flow by gravity towards the Rapid Infiltration Basins. Once the water reaches the Rapid Infiltration Basins it will quickly seep into the surficial aquifer. Groundwater within the surficial aquifer will then travel down towards the nearest surface water feature that intercepts limestone layer (including Cypress Creek, Spanish Creek, and the Caloosahatchee River). It is estimated that the water pumped into the Rapid Infiltration Basins will take approximately two years to reach these surface water features.

The ALJO Four Corners Rapid Infiltration Project is the latest of several public-private partnerships to be utilized by the South Florida Water Management District to create immediate water storage and improve water quality.