PHOTO BY MELISSA BILL
The Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of its Caloosahatchee River Estuary Storage & Treatment (C.R.E.S.T.) on Oct. 19. The multi-phase stormwater project was designated to provide additional storage for storm water, improve water quality and improve the water quality by removing nutrients for the Caloosahatchee River.
The milestone marks phase III of C.R.E.S.T. and completes the storage component of the project. Milestones of the project include excavation of approximately 635.000 cubic yards of material to create 585 acre-feet of additional stormwater storage and vegetation ecosystem diversity.
Ceremony speakers included LA-MSID Commissioner Mike Bonacolta, Commissioner Julie Hollingsworth, District Manager David Lindsay and Assistant District Manager Mike Cook.
Hollingsworth opened by giving a brief overview of the project aimed to preserve the land, filter water, and help encourage wildlife to return to this area.
“In 2018, we acquired the two parcels that make up this site, 104 acres, through Hendry County tax deed sale for a net cost of just $255,000, or about $2,400 per acre. Then in 2017, Hurricane Irma damaged our Hendry number two structure. We successfully applied to the USDA Natural Resource Services, or NRCS, for funding to replace it with only $70,000 from LA-MSID funds and $700,000 from NRCS,” Hollingsworth said.
PHOTO BY MELISSA BILL
According to Hollingsworth, the relinquishing of structure number two made the hydraulics of the project possible and resulted in an additional $100,000 from the state legislature and the $158,000 of LA-MSID funds to complete the designs of phases two and three.
“Phase two constructed the water quality system just across the street over there. This $2 million project was fully funded by a 2020 legislative SWAG grant garnered by the assistance of Florida House of Representatives District 77 Mike Giallombardo and Senator Kathleen Passidomo. The final stage three, the deep water storage and pump system, was built with a 2022 legislative appropriation of a little over $4 million.”
Hollingsworth credited the district staff’s innovation and careful management in keeping the cost of the Phase III project at around $2.1 million.
“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was able to use the remaining $1.9 million to fund other state projects with the help of Senator Albritton, District 26,” Hollingsworth said. “In total, the project cost a little over $5.2 million. Of that, the district had only spent $368,000 of constituent money. The state of Florida contributed $4.2 million, and the federal government provided $700,000. It has been truly a wonderful partnership with our legislators, legislative delegation, both Lee and Hendry County.”
Lindsay later took the podium to walk through the history of C.R.E.S.T. and the formation of today’s Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District.
PHOTO BY MELISSA BILL
“East Lee County Water Control was founded in 1958 under the direction of Lehigh Corporation. In an effort to drain the land, various canals were created throughout Lehigh. This changed the natural water shed process,” Lindsay said. “With the help of officials such as Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann, LA-MSID was able to begin the process of returning the water to its natural flow.”
The district continues to monitor and use models to assure that the area has storage and water drainage capabilities especially during a storm. These water systems help reduce flooding, improve water quality and recharge aquifers.
An in-depth overview of the various sites and how they work together was given by Cook.
“The C.R.E.S.T. Project is designed to improve regional flood control by connecting major water basins and expanding water storage capacity throughout the area,” Cook said. “With existing sites and future projects like Frank Mann Preserve, we’ll be able to move water between four major basins, helping manage high water levels, reduce flooding, and improve stormwater management across the region.”
Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, guests were invited to tour the site and watch first-hand how the hydraulic pumps and water storage and management systems function.
PHOTO BY MELISSA BILL
For more information on C.R.E.S.T., visit la-msid.com.
PHOTO BY MELISSA BILL