The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Tuesday celebrated a District cooperatively funded project with the City of St. Petersburg that received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Florida Stormwater Association for restoring Lake Maggiore.
This is the first year the Florida Stormwater Association recognized six projects and programs during the association’s annual conference in June.
The projects were recognized for demonstrating creativity, innovation and excellence in local water quality and flood control.
The Florida Stormwater Association was formed in 1993 to serve professionals in stormwater management and finance. The association provides training and education; technical assistance and information sharing; and advocacy and legislative relations to its members.
The Lake Maggiore Restoration Project, which was cooperatively funded by the District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board and the City of St. Petersburg, was submitted by the city for consideration.
Lake Maggiore Restoration Project
The Lake Maggiore restoration project was a multi-phased project impacting
Lake Maggiore and its 2,290-acre watershed, which is located in southern Pinellas County. Virtually all of the development within the lake’s watershed occurred prior to the existence of current stormwater management regulations. As a result, untreated runoff entered the lake, bringing in excessive amounts of pollutants and resulting in persistent algae blooms, poor water clarity, low dissolved oxygen, periodic fish kills, elevated bacteria levels and prolific growth of invasive plants like cat tails and water hyacinths.
The goal of the project was to improve the water quality by reducing the amount of nutrients entering the lake and removing the nutrient-rich sediment at the bottom of the lake.
The restoration project included several elements, including retrofitting the stormwater conveyance system, constructing five alum treatment facilities to treat stormwater runoff, mechanically removing the invasive plants and planting native plants around the lake, replacing the failing outfall control structure on Salt Creek.
The final phase, which involved removing 1.3 million cubic yards of sediment by dredging the bottom of the lake, began in Oct. 2004 and was completed in Oct. 2006.
“It has taken a long time and the work of many people to complete all of the phases of the project to improve environmental conditions in and around Lake Maggiore,” said Manuel Lopez, project manager and District senior environmental scientist. “While it will take time for the natural systems to reach the full benefits of the work that was completed, residents living near the lake, as well as visitors, will be able to enjoy the lake more and the improving water quality and shorelines will provide habitat for fish and wildlife.”