FLOOD RELIEF AND WASTEWATER IMPROVEMENTS FUNDED FOR LEON COUNTY

Florida DEP Banner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 22, 2014

CONTACT: DEP Press Office, 850-245-2112, DEPNews@dep.state.fl.us 

FLOOD RELIEF AND WASTEWATER IMPROVEMENTS FUNDED FOR LEON COUNTY

~DEP provides $425,000 for two projects~

TALLAHASSEE – Leon County is receiving $425,000 in funding from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for two water projects that will provide wastewater improvements and flood relief.

The first project will consist of surveying topography and utility use in the Woodside Heights subdivision, which is located in the Wakulla Springs primary focus area identified by the draft basin management action plan for the Upper Wakulla River total maximum daily load.

The survey will work to identify septic tanks that are contributing to elevated nitrate levels in the Wakulla Springs springshed. This data will help in the continued effort to improve water quality in the Apalachee Bay-St. Marks watershed and Wakulla Springs springshed.

“North Florida is home to some of the finest waterbodies in the state, which require our attention and care to improve and protect,” said DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. “I am excited that these two projects will have a positive effect on the Apalachee Bay-St. Marks watershed and Wakulla Springs.”

The second involves two land acquisitions and the design and construction of a stormwater treatment and attenuation area in Woodville on the south side of Robinson Road. This purchase is of two flood-prone abandoned homesites, which are adjacent to vacant property already owned by Leon County and within the Apalachee Bay-St. Marks watershed.

The new land will allow for the construction of a stormwater-treatment and attenuation facility. The stormwater facility that will be constructed with this funding will remove floodwater from the properties north of Robinson Road, while providing treatment for the adjacent county and state roadways.

"Water quality is important to the future of North Florida," said Sen. Bill Montford. "Funding from the state will help us improve flood control and eliminate aging septic systems, which will help us continue to restore our springs and other waterbodies.”

The survey project is anticipated to be complete by the end of August 2015. The flood relief project is anticipated to be complete by April 2016.