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CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
joined the City of Atlantic Beach and other stakeholders today for a ribbon
cutting ceremony to dedicate the Hopkins Creek Regional Retention Pond, a
stormwater retrofitting project that will reduce pollutant loading to the Lower
St. Johns River.
In May, 2008 DEP awarded a $550,000 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Water
Quality Restoration Grant to the City of Atlantic Beach for the construction of
the project. The project provides significant stormwater treatment, removing
nutrients and suspended solids, helping the City to meet the TMDL limits for
discharge to the St Johns River. The TMDLs are pollutant loading limits that
guide the state’s water quality restoration plan. The 1.7-acre wet detention
pond will treat the runoff from over 54 acres of developed residential and
commercial lands and also provide additional flood protection. The project is
expected to remove 44 pounds of phosphorus, 84 pounds of nitrogen, and more than
20,000 pounds of sediments.
“The Hopkins Creek Project was originally proposed after storms repeatedly
flooded residences and streets. With the emergence of TMDL requirements, the
City was able to partner with DEP to develop a cost effective project that
provides benefits for both needs, reducing the nitrogen discharged to the
Intracoastal Waterway from stormwater runoff and also providing measurable flood
control improvements,” said Atlantic Beach Mayor John Meserve. “During Tropical
Storm Fay in August, after pond construction was essentially complete, we
received over 11 inches of rainfall, 8.5 inches in 24 hour, with no home
flooding in this basin.”
The TMDL Water Quality Restoration Grant Program was established by the
Florida Legislature in 2005 as part of Senate Bill 444. Funds can be used to
reduce urban nonpoint source pollution, primarily untreated urban stormwater,
discharged to water bodies on the state’s verified list of impaired waters. The
Department’s funds are used primarily for the construction of the stormwater
treatment system and for monitoring to determine the actual pollutant load
reductions from the treatment system. The 50 percent matching funds provided by
local governments or water management districts typically pay for land
acquisition, design, permitting, and maintenance.
“The Department is working with communities throughout Florida to retrofit
existing drainage systems to provide stormwater treatment and reduce pollutant
loads discharged to impaired waters,” said Eric Livingston, chief of the DEP
Bureau of Watershed Restoration. “The TMDL Water Quality Restoration Grant
Program allows the Department to partner with local governments, water
management districts, and other public entities to implement stormwater
treatment projects needed to restore impaired waters.”
The Hopkins Creek stormwater retrofit project is included in the recently
adopted Lower St Johns River Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) which is the
blueprint for reducing pollutant loads and restoring the river. As part of the
BMAP, affected urban areas, like the City of Atlantic Beach, committed to
stormwater retrofits.
For more information on the Lower St. Johns River Basin Management Action
Plan, visit
www.dep.state.fl.us/northeast/stjohns/TMDL/Final-Draft-BMAP.pdf.
For more information on the TMDL Water Quality Restoration Grant Program,
visit
www.dep.state.fl.us/water/watersheds/tmdl_grant.htm.
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