Lee Commissioners approve Caloosahatchee water quality research project

LEE COUNTY, Fla. – The Lee Board of County Commissioners approved an agreement with Florida Gulf Coast University on Tuesday for a water quality research project at the Boma site in Glades County.

The research project would test methods for removal of nitrogen from the Caloosahatchee River surface waters in order to improve water quality.

The project will be funded by a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The research, done in partnership with FGCU and the South Florida Water Management District, will take place at the C-43 Water Quality Treatment and Testing Project Boma site in Glades County.

After commissioners voted to contribute $10 million toward the purchase of agricultural land in Glades County in 2007, the South Florida Water Management District built 12 tanks containing wetland vegetation that were used to conduct a water quality assessment of nutrient removal from Caloosahatchee River water that was allowed to flow through the wetland cells.

This project, according to the county, will use some of those tanks to test innovative technology that could reduce nutrients in water bodies, and prevent or mitigate harmful algal blooms.

Work on the project is expected to begin in June.

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