FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Apr. 29, 2016
DEP AND PARTNERS CELEBRATE EXPANSION OF
ST. JOHNS COUNTY NORTHWEST WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY
~Reuse expansion projects preserve water resources and create alternative water source~
(Left to right) Ron Sanchez, former St. Johns County commissioner; Greg Strong, DEP Northeast District director; Rep. Cyndi Stevenson; Dr. Ann Shortelle, SJRWMD executive director.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Today, the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection joined the St. Johns River Water
Management District, St. Johns County representatives and local community
leaders for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new St. Johns
County Northwest Water Reclamation Facility (NWWRF).
"We are very pleased to offer
Florida's cities, counties and communities the funding they need
to help expand water reuse programs, such as this new state of
the art facility in St. Augustine," said Greg Strong, DEP’s Northeast
District director. "These system expansions are an important way
for us to meet the ever-increasing demand for reclaimed water in our
state, and to further preserve our precious water resources.”
The department
provided more than $8 million in low-interest loan funding from its Clean
Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to assist with the completion
of this
state-of-the-art facility that
will protect the Floridan Aquifer and reduce demand on the area's
potable water by increasing the availability of reclaimed water. The reuse capacity at the NWWRF is expected to
gradually increase to more than 1 million gallons per day (mgd), and eventually
as much as 3 mgd in future years.
"We are excited about the opening of this important
facility that will provide critical services to the residents of St. Johns
County in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner," said Jeb
S. Smith, chair of St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners. "We
are thankful to be beneficiaries of the state's CWSRF program, which helped
make this project a reality."
For the past 20 years, Florida has been recognized as a national
leader in water reuse, with domestic wastewater facilities increasing their reuse
capacity by approximately 465 percent since 1986. Currently, approximately
720 mgd of reclaimed water is reused statewide statewide for
beneficial purposes such as landscape irrigation and aquifer recharge. Reusing
this reclaimed water is estimated to save more than 130 billion
gallons of potable-quality water annually.
“Over
the past five years, the district, DEP and local governments have invested
nearly $265 million and implemented 40 projects to help improve the
St. Johns River’s water quality,” said St. Johns River Water Management
District Executive Director Dr. Ann Shortelle. “The district is very proud to
be a longtime partner with DEP and St. Johns County. I am excited to celebrate
this project to reduce pollutant discharges to the river while conserving water
through alternatives to groundwater.”
For more information about Florida's reuse activities, visit http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/reuse/activity.htm.
The Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program has awarded approximately
$1.1 billion in funding for about 120 wastewater and stormwater improvement
projects during the past five years for a total of $4 billion in loan funds
since its inception in 1989. The program is funded by federal grants,
state matching funds, loan repayments and interest earnings. For more
information, visit http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/waterprojectfunding/.
| 
