Gov. Ron DeSantis rolled into town Monday to mark a watershed moment for the Indian River Lagoon: completion of a $23.2 million project to restore Crane Creek’s natural flow by taming a century-old flood-control canal as part of an effort to heal the lagoon.
“We’ve made Florida a leader in protecting water resources and we’re going to continue to deliver results and that is why we’re here today,” DeSantis said in front of a standing room only crowd of supporters and dignitaries gathered near the creek’s mouth at the Front Street Park Civic Center in Melbourne. “Today we are announcing the completion of the Crane Creek M-1 canal flow restoration project.”
The so-called M-1 Canal had for decades diverted stormwater from 5,300 acres in Melbourne, West Melbourne, Melbourne Village and parts of unincorporated Brevard, sending the water east down Crane Creek — a tributary of the Indian River Lagoon.
“Over 100 years ago the M-1 Canal was built to control flooding in the area but it changed the way water naturally flowed between the St. John’s River and the Indian River Lagoon,” DeSantis said. “Over time, storm water from more than 5,300 acres in Melbourne, West Melbourne and other nearby communities carried harmful nutrients into the lagoon fueling algal blooms and damaging water quality.”
Those algal blooms choked out seagrass, fish and other marine life. That’s why regional water managers have spent more than $250 million in taxpayer money since the late 1980s on projects that aim to mimic how nature once made water flow along the St. Johns River’s upper basin.
The St. Johns River Water Management District identified the need for the Crane Creek / M-1 Canal Project in a 2017 analysis. They estimate the project will reduce 24,000 pounds of nitrogen and 3,100 pounds of phosphorus, annually. It will do so by restoring the baseflow in the M-1 Canal westward, where the stormwater will be cleansed in a man-made stormwater treatment area prior to discharging to the St. Johns River basin.
Project also benefits drinking water supply
As a secondary benefit, the project will restore 7 million gallons of freshwater flow per day to the St. Johns River. That water can then be used for alternative water supply downstream, to ease demand for groundwater sources of drinking water.
DeSantis said the project will prevent 24,000 pounds of nitrogen and 3,100 pounds of phosphorous from reaching the lagoon annually. He said that translated into seven million gallons per day of fresh water to downstream users.
The project’s construction included a control structure within the M-1 Canal, weirs, stormwater pumping stations, and two-foot-wide underground stormwater pipes.
Project components include an operable weir east of Evans Road, two pump stations, two pipeline force mains and a stormwater treatment area west of Interstate 95. The weir enables capture of runoff for the east pump station and is designed to have no impact on existing flood control capability of the M-1 Canal.
“The project protects water quality, safeguards wildlife and strengthens the community’s way of life,” DeSantis said.
In early 2023, the St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board approved a $19.5 million contract to Cone & Graham, Inc. to begin construction of the Crane Creek M-1 Canal Flow Restoration Project. The total project cost, including design, permitting, land acquisition and construction was $23.2 million.
In March, DeSantis visited Brevard to highlight $100 million in state money to the lagoon, including $8.6 million for the Melbourne Grant Street Water Reclamation Facility Water Quality Improvement Project to upgrade waste treatment processes and reduce nutrients entering Crane Creek and the Indian River Lagoon.
The Crane Creek project funding breakdown
Source: St. Johns River Water Management District
Jim Waymer is an environment reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact him at 321-261-5903 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JWayEnviro.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: DeSantis lauds Crane Creek project marks major milestone for Indian River Lagoon
Reporting by John A. Torres and Jim Waymer, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
