A permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has cleared the way for construction to begin on the A-2 Stormwater Treatment Area, a constructed wetland in South Florida. Costing an estimated $207.8 million, the STA will be the first major component of the $1.8-billion project to construct the A-2 Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir.
The reservoir will receive and store water from Lake Okeechobee contaminated by agricultural runoff, and slowly release it to the stormwater treatment area for treatment. Currently, the contaminated water is often discharged to estuaries on the east and west coasts of the state, where it has been blamed for spawning toxic algal blooms.
