17th Street Stormwater Retrofit Project Traditional Cache
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17th Street Stormwater Retrofit Project
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Pensacola is 450 years old and most of its neighborhoods were developed long before there were established rules or facilities to control stormwater runoff. Stormwater is rainwater that does not seep into the ground after a rainfall. It drains off your property picking up fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, oil, pet waste and many other contaminants carrying them into storm drains. Most of the storm drains located within the city limits empty into Bayou Texar, Bayou Chico, Pensacola Bay or Escambia Bay.
Adding to the stormwater problem is the loss of wetlands. Prior to being drained for urban uses, large portions of Pensacola were natural wetlands that buffered the areas natural meandering water courses such as Carpenters Creek. Wetlands serve as natural filters that allow sediments, nutrients and other contaminants to "settle-out" before reaching surface water bodies. Between the loss of wetlands and the input of contaminated stormwater from urbanization, Pensacola area’s water quality steadily declined and peaked in the 70’s and 80’s. It was during these years that the growing impact from stormwater resulted in numerous fish kills where hundreds of fish could be seen floating in area waters as a result of increased turbidity, reduced oxygen and toxic pollutants – particularly bad during the heat of summer.
The City of Pensacola has responded to the stormwater challenge. First and foremost improving stormwater management has been elevated to a priority concern by both the City Council and City staff. This is reflected in both operational changes as well as reflected in the City's budget. In addition, education of citizens about their personal impact on stormwater, changing City field operating procedures, increasing land development code requirements, and addressing water quality in all City construction projects have been instituted for the protection and improvement of water quality. Among the most important changes has been the implementation of a stormwater utility fee. The utility fee has allowed the city to complete numerous stormwater retrofits (installing treatment systems on existing storm drain systems) to filter stormwater prior to its’ entering local waters. The 17th Street Stormwater Retrofit project is an excellent example of how these projects can be an added value to the community, beyond the critical factor of improving water quality. Incorporating two critical treatment processes this project has an underground “vault” system to remove sediment and solid waste, coupled with a natural wetland area to “polish” stormwater by removing nutrients and organic material that can lead to algal blooms and lowered oxygen levels in surface waters. This project is anticipated to reduce annual pollutant loading to Bayou Texar by 930 pounds of BOD5 (Biological Oxygen Demand, 5 Day the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed in five days by biological processes breaking down organic matter) 3,752 pounds of solids, 93 pounds of nitrogen, and 20 pounds of phosphorus. The project is a partnership between the City of Pensacola and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection with both entities providing funding.
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