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Upper St. Johns River Basin Home

Canal 1 rediversion project

Fellsmere Water Management Area

Understanding flooding: The upper basin project and Canal 54

• Map of the regions (flood control areas) where water control structures operated by the St. Johns River Water Management District are designed to reduce flood impacts.
  • Closer view

Fellsmere Water Management Area

The Fellsmere Water Management Area will add an additional 10,000 acres of restored wetlands to the headwaters of the St. Johns River. This land, formerly owned by Sun-Ag Inc., was previously used for pasture, citrus and row crops. Now, the wetlands will become the primary source of irrigation water supply for the remaining agricultural lands owned by Sun-Ag Inc. Anticipated project completion is in 2015.

The benefits

The Fellsmere Water Management Area will:

• Restore agricultural land to wetlands, reducing the annual amount of phosphorus and chloride flowing to the upper St. Johns River.
• Result in a mosaic of wetland types that will provide habitat for a large number of species, including migratory waterfowl and listed species.
• Decrease the frequency of freshwater discharges through the C-54 canal to the lagoon to less than a 1-in-100-year storm event.
• Conserve groundwater that is currently being withdrawn from the Floridan aquifer.
• Augment dry season flows to the St. Johns River, enhancing downstream aquatic environments.
• Increase water storage in the Blue Cypress Lake watershed.

Contact information

For additional information about this project area, contact Hector Herrera, upper basin project manager, at (386) 329-4327 or hherrera@sjrwmd.com.

Posted on 6-2-2010