PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. -- In an effort to help the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, water managers say they have begun to fill a new reservoir with nearly 10 billion gallons of lake water.
According to the South Florida Water Management District, emergency operations began this week to start sending lake water to the A-1 Flow Equalization Basin, located just off U.S. 27 in western Palm Beach County.
SFWMD says recent dry conditions lowered water levels in the new reservoir, creating capacity for them to move 9.8 billion gallons of water from the lake directly into the Basin.
The 15,000-acre basin is contained in a system of 21 miles of earthen levees and is capable of storing 20 billion gallons of water.
A project in Governor Scott’s Restoration Strategies Plan to improve the Everglades, the Basin temporarily stores water for delivery to South Florida’s Stormwater Treatment Areas in a manner that optimizes their ability to clean water before sending it into Everglades National Park.
