FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 22, 2014
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.
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