JACKSONVILLE, FL, Nov. 23, 2015 -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with federal, state and local officials, have broken ground for a major construction contract -- the reservoir component of the C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area project.
The reservoir is the largest water storage component of the C-44 project, which is under construction in partnership with the South Florida Water Management District, as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan's (CERP) Indian River Lagoon-South project. It's been called a critical restoration project to restore America's Everglades.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District awarded the $197 million construction contract to Barnard Construction Inc. (Bozeman, Mont.). The contract involves the construction of a 3,400-acre reservoir that will store an additional 16.5 billion gallons of water from the C-44 Basin.
"Awarding the C-44 reservoir contract demonstrates federal dollars at work to deliver much-needed water storage to this precious ecosystem," said Col. Jason Kirk, Jacksonville District Commander. "In terms of cost, this $197 million construction contract is the largest single contract award for the Jacksonville District, and Corps-wide, is the second largest contract award for a project this past year."
Construction of the C-44 Reservoir and STA is scheduled to be complete in 2020. Upon construction completion, up to two years of operational testing will occur.
Once all work is complete, the project will capture local runoff from the C-44 basin, reducing average nutrient loads and improving salinity in the St. Lucie Estuary and the southern portion of the Indian River Lagoon. It will provide, in total, 60,500 acre-feet of new water storage (50,600 acre-feet in the reservoir and 9,900 acre-feet in the STAs) and 3,600 acres of new wetlands.
