Restoring the Northern Everglades: A Systematic Approach to Lake Okeechobee Watershed Management

A component of the Lake Okeechobee and Estuary Recovery Plan, the Lake Okeechobee Fast Track (LOFT) project is a proposed group of facilities in South Florida that will help improve water quality by capturing stormwater runoff north of Lake Okeechobee and treating it to remove total phosphorus (TP). The current phase of the LOFT project includes two existing stormwater treatment areas (STAs), construction of a proposed regional STA at Lakeside Ranch, and the proposed re-routing of stormwater flows from two upstream subbasins (S-135 and S-191) to the Lakeside Ranch STA. The projects are to be located just north of the lake in the Taylor Creek/Nubbin Slough Basin, which offers an optimal location for capturing and treating large amounts of phosphorus within state-owned properties located in the Northern Everglades area. An additional STA at Brady Ranch and conceptual reservoirs at the Taylor Creek and Lakeside sites were further evaluated during this project to determine hydraulic and nutrient effects to the proposed system.