DEP Helps Fund Tallahassee Water-Quality Enhancement Project

Stormwater treatment project will reduce nutrient loading in Upper Lake Lafayette

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection awarded the city of Tallahassee a $500,000 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) grant to help fund construction of the $6M Upper Lake Lafayette Nutrient Reduction Facility. The new facility will improve water quality by significantly reducing the amount of nutrients ultimately reaching the Ochlockonee-St. Marks River Basin.

"We are pleased to award grants to Florida communities to help fund their area stormwater projects," said Trina Vielhauer, director of the Division of Water Restoration Assistance. "These nutrient-reduction projects are an important step in restoring and protecting our state's waterways, big and small."

Through this project, the Weems Road Stormwater Treatment Facility, an existing wet detention pond, was enlarged and deepened to create a chemically enhanced stormwater treatment system known as the Upper Lake Lafayette Nutrient Reduction Facility. This facility is now able to treat stormwater runoff from the more than 10,000-acre sub-watershed, significantly reducing nutrient loading to Upper Lake Lafayette, and ultimately, the Ochlockonee-St. Marks River Basin.

"We are thankful DEP was able to assist with this innovative project," said Mark Heidecker, environmental specialist with the city of Tallahassee. "Preliminary monitoring of the Upper Lake Lafayette Nutrient Reduction Facility already shows reductions in pollutant loading, and we anticipate continued water-quality enhancement moving forward."

About DEP's Division of Water Restoration Assistance
The Division of Water Restoration Assistance is responsible for providing loans and grants for projects that improve the quality and quantity of the state's water resources and provide a significant benefit to the environment and local communities. Projects in several program areas are funded that improve stormwater quality, reduce pollutants entering surface water and groundwater, protect springs, collect and treat wastewater, produce and distribute drinking water, nourish beaches and reclaim mined land. For more information, visit www.dep.state.fl.us/water/waterprojectfunding/.