By: Tyler Treadway, Treasure Coast Newspapers
The South Florida Water Management District board has approved the purchase of 490 acres for a reservoir to cut discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers...
The $5 million purchase from the Seventh Day Baptist Church Memorial Fund does not expand the project's footprint. The parcel west of the state-owned land known as the A-2 parcel is part of the 17,600-acre project designed by the district that includes:
- A 23-foot-deep, 10,100-acre reservoir to store up to 78.2 billion gallons of excess lake water
- A 6,500-acre man-made marsh to clean the water before it's sent south to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
The district previously bought 9.97 acres from another private owner adjacent to the A-2 parcel. Both tracts were earmarked for purchase in the legislation authorizing the project approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott last year.