The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD or District) has engaged EIP Florida Water Quality, LLC (EIP) in a performance-based contract to deliver the Lower Kissimmee Basin Stormwater Treatment Area (LKBSTA) Project (Project) on EIP-owned property in Okeechobee County to maximize removal of total phosphorus (TP) loads from priority areas of the Lake Okeechobee watershed. The Project is proposed to be completed by EIP in two phases. Phase One consists of a Reconnaissance Study, a Design Documentation Report (DDR), and Preliminary Design activities including preparation of initial permit applications. At the conclusion of Phase One, EIP will submit a proposal for Phase Two, which is anticipated to include final design activities, permitting, construction, land transfer, five years of productive operations, and project turnover.

The identified alternative achieves the goals of reducing TP loads from the Taylor Creek/Nubbin Slough (TCNS), Indian Prairie, and Lower Kissimmee sub-watersheds as well as Lake Okeechobee, thereby assisting to achieve the Lake Okeechobee total maximum daily load (TMDL) goals and the goals and objectives of the Lake Okeechobee Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP).

The alternative identified for the Project is approximately 2,500 acres (ac) of Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) designed to treat stormwater runoff from the L-62 and C-38 canals as well as treat Lake Okeechobee water. A new 500 cfs inflow pump station (PS) will direct inflows into the Project. Six STA cells are being designed to operate in parallel and are planned to be dominated by emergent aquatic vegetation (EAV). In addition, an innovative water quality treatment technology consisting of a vertical engineered media filtration system (referred to as a Phosphorus Elimination System or PES) is proposed and is being designed to allow both treatment of inflows independent from and in parallel with the STA cells and in series with and downstream of the STA cells. The Project is proposed to be operated as a year-round, flow-through STA system that prioritizes the treatment water with the highest TP concentrations to maximize TP load reduction.