UPDATED: Water cleaning project may be expanded

OKEECHOBEE – What will a water treatment project near the Kissimmee River mean for the Lazy 7 community in Okeechobee County?

In May 2021, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board agreed to move forward with a contract with Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP) on a project to be built on two Okeechobee County ranches adjacent to the Kissimmee River. Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP) acquired the properties from Rio Rancho Corporation and Fernandez Family Trust.

EIP plans a hybrid stormwater treatment area (STA) which includes  traditional STA cells as well as 10 acres of a Phosphorous Elimination System (PES).

The project to clean water before it enters Lake Okeechobee drew some questions at the June 22 meeting of the Okeechobee County Commission.

“It’s raised issues with the neighborhood out there,” Commission Chair David Hazellief said. He said the project area “wraps around” Lazy 7.

“I’m disappointed water management never had a public hearing on this,” said Hazellief. He noted SFWMD recently held public hearings about a proposed above ground reservoir in Highlands County, the Lake Okeechobee Component A Reservoir (LOCAR), and water managers reached out to neighboring property owners there.

Hazellief noted there are differences between the two projects. LOCAR is an above ground water storage project – part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, which is funded 50/50 by the federal and state governments. The EIP project is a water treatment project, which will be built on privately-owned land and operated under a contract with SFWMD. SFWMD will pay the property owner to remove phosphorus from the water before it goes into Lake Okeechobee.

“I’m disappointed we never had any input,” Hazellief said.

Commissioner Kelly Owens suggested the board request a SFWMD representative come to a county commission meeting to explain the process.

According to Ecosystem Investment Partners Senior Program Manager Kyle Graham, the project is still in the design phase.

“Our contract with the SFWMD authorizes the development of the project in 2 phases: Phase 1 takes the project from feasibility analysis through preliminary design,” he explained in a May 4, 2023 email to the Lake Okeechobee News.

“At the conclusion of Phase 1, we will present to SFWMD a proposal to implement Phase 2 which includes: Final design, permitting, construction and up to 7 years of operations. We are on schedule to bring the Phase 2 proposal to the board later this year in October or November.”

In a June 26 email, Graham stated the project will be done in two parts, and that Lazy 7 residents will have a chance to give their input. "Current direction is to proceed with design of the West area (cells 1-4), delaying the design of the area close to the Lazy 7 development until later this year/early 2024. We plan to work closely with local residents to understand concerns and design solutions to address concerns once approved to reinitiate design of the relevant cells," he explained.

"We will perform a flood analysis to be sure there is no increased flooding risk to the surrounding properties," he continued. "The cells are surrounded with an earthen berm and seepage canals.  The cells will be graded from establish a nearly flat bottom, water depth is anticipated to be 18-20 inches.  The property drains toward the river, the seepage canals are designed to capture any water that could seep through the berms. "

PES is a relatively new technology that is currently being utilized by the St. Johns River Water Management District in their Doctors Lake Phosphorus Removal Pilot Project at Clay County Utility Authority’s Fleming Island Regional Wastewater Plant. At Doctors Lake, PES is being used to remove nutrients from wastewater. In Okeechobee County, it will be used to remove phosphorus from river water.

PES is vegetated high rate vertical filter that adsorbs phosphorus. The PES will be built into a series of cells which allows a portion of the system to remain in operation while a cell is being refurbished. Over time, like any filter, the rate of phosphorus removal will decrease, and the PES will be removed and replaced. The exhausted media will be organic rich and contain plenty of plant-available phosphorus. This material can be incorporated into a top soil mix for gardening, used as agriculture soil amendment or a grass surface top course – thus displacing in part the need for traditional phosphorus fertilizer application.

A map shared by SFWMD show the possible expansion of the project.

According to SFWMD maps, water levels in most of the STAs would be a maximum of 2 feet, but two areas show a maximum water depth of 4 feet.

Graham said the cells which will be near the Lazy 7 neighborhood have not yet been designed.