ORANGE CITY, Fla. — Environmental experts are saying water supply and quality in the Blue Spring Basin is on a rapid decline, and needs to be fixed now.
- Volusia Blue Wetland Recharge Project
- Would be used to recharge Blue Spring Basin, aquifer
- If approved, it would also be an extension of the state park
That's why Volusia County is partnering with local west Volusia cities, the Dept. of Environmental Protection, and St. John’s River Water Management to come up with a solution to fix it before it's too late.
“We have struggled for years to change around the declining flow of the spring. So the spring has been declining since the 70s,” said Stephen Kintner, vice president of the West Volusia Audobon.
Since 2013, about $22 million has been spent on different projects to save the Blue Spring Basin, according to Volusia County Officials. Not only is it an important winter home for manatees, but an important water source for West Volusia as well.
“Everybody is dipping a straw in some place, and they are doing it right into Blue Spring basin," said Mike Ulrich, Volusia County's director of Water Resources and Utility.
But now, a new project, called the Volusia Blue Wetland Recharge project, could finally fix these problems.
“The project has a lot of potential, it's a 60-acre borrow pit. We intend to construct a treatment wetlands system where... we can bring surface water and stormwater into the site, treat it, and recharge it for the benefit of the aquifer,” explained Lou Donnangeelo, the Regional Water Supply coordinator for the St. John's River Water Management District.
The borrow pit sits right next to Blue Spring State Park, and would naturally filter water through the ground into the spring. It would increase water flow with clean water, with lowered levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, which would prevent the spread of toxic blue green algae, which the spring has dealt with before.
“We all have common goals here, the Dept. of Environmental Protection, the water management district, the cities themselves, to not only preserving our springs and our water quality and water supply, not only for today, but also for the future and the folks that are still yet to come,” said Ulrich.
Right now, the projected $12 million project is still at the beginning of its one-year testing phase. But if all goes well, construction could start on the project as soon as next September, and be completed in 2024.
“This is by far our leading project and that is why we are going after this one first,” said Ulrich.
If the project is embraced by the community, the constructed wetlands would eventually be opened up the public use. It would be an extension on Blue Spring State Park, where people could hike and go birding.