Local scientist says EAA reservoir needs more treatment areas

Article Reference: Local scientist says EAA reservoir needs more treatment areas

Friday, November 23rd 2018, 5:47 PM EST by Jaclyn Bevis

A local scientist worries the plans for the Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir don’t include enough treatment areas to clean the high levels of phosphorous from the water.

“The intention is good to try and fix the problem,” Florida Gulf Coast University scientist Dr. Serge Thomas said. “What we need to do is send water south.”

Dr. Thomas said more research is needed to determine how best to move water south and ensure it gets properly cleaned as it moves through Stormwater Treatment Areas, known as STAs.

“Our brand new STA we’re standing on now is 6,000 acres,” South Florida Water Management’s Director of Everglades Policy and Coordination Eva Velez said. “That will work together with the other 57,000 acres.”

“These are green technology where we are building wetlands, and the wetlands are then cleaning and filtering the water,” Dr. Thomas explained.

But Dr. Thomas sees two problems with the STAs plan — not enough of acres of the treatment areas and moving water across the available land too quickly.

Read More