Preserving Paradise wraps up with last session
In the final Preserving Paradise session of 2024 held on Oct. 29, the program’s participants went to view and learn about Everglades restoration projects up close and personal.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported that the day started with a tour of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir, a keystone project in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) to store, clean and send more water south, reducing harmful water quality impacts in estuaries.
They learned how the 10,100-acre EAA Reservoir and its associated 6,500-acre Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) will give water managers more capacity to store and treat water from Lake Okeechobee before ultimately sending it south to the Everglades, where it is needed most.
They witnessed the vast scope of the EAA Reservoir, which will be able to hold nearly 80 billion gallons of water and help lower Lake Okeechobee by multiple inches.
“The EAA Reservoir will mean less pollution-filled releases to our river, cleaner water in our estuaries, and a lowered risk of devastating algal blooms,” SCCF Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis said.
Afterward, the group headed to the Caloosahatchee River (C-43) West Basin Storage Reservoir, which will help provide beneficial dry-season flows to the Caloosahatchee by storing and treating water from the river and releasing it when basin runoff is lacking. It is big enough to hold 55 billion gallons.
“This reservoir will provide critical freshwater flows to our estuary when the basin runoff is too low,” he said. “In the dry season, without freshwater inputs, saltwater is able to move much farther up in the estuary than many species can tolerate, causing stress to organisms like oysters and tape grass. This reservoir will help us offset those impacts, and hopefully remove some of the nitrogen pollution that is so prevalent in the river.”
A partnership between Captains for Clean Water, the SanCap Chamber, SCCF and The Everglades Foundation, Preserving Paradise brought together over 20 regional business leaders to learn more and advocate for clean water. Since August, courses were held biweekly and included classroom sessions, panels and group discussions, and in-the-field experiences to drive home central concepts.
For more information about the program, visit preservingparadise.org.
To join the 2025 waitlist, visit https://share.hsforms.com/1bdFJH08rSL2fxSBXe_3Z1Acnsfz.