When Hurricane Wilma blew through South Florida on October 24, it may have created a "bump in the road" for Everglades restoration, if initial assessments of environmental damage prove true.
Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) are constructed and managed wetlands that are designed to remove excess nutrients from surface waters - before the water flows into the Everglades and other ecosystems.
South of Lake Okeechobee are six constructed and managed wetlands, each thousands of acres in size. Aquatic plants in these wetlands remove phosphorus, a nutrient commonly found in fertilizers but known to cause harm in the Everglades ecosystem. Hurricane Wilma's track took it directly across these STAs. The storm's wind field grew as it crossed the state, bringing the most damage to the easternmost treatment wetlands, namely STAs 1-East, 1-West and 2, all located in Palm Beach County.
Impacts to the STAs include moderate to extensive vegetation damage, including wetland plants torn loose and pushed onto levee banks; lack of power, including downed power lines across treatment areas and access roads; levee damage and pump station damage.
Assessments are ongoing to determine the extent of damage to the STAs. Downed power lines in and near the treatment cells have made it difficult for crews to safely access many areas. Starting November 1, District staff were able to use airboats to reach the interiors of STA treatment cells, particularly to assess vegetation damage. A timeframe of 2-3 weeks is required to determine how well damaged vegetation revives and, subsequently, how well the STA will be able to function in phosphorus removal over the coming months.
In addition, the hurricane impaired the District's water quality monitoring capabilities, including the loss of an experimental auto-sampler in STA-1 West that was destroyed in the storm. Field crews are resuming sampling activities this week.
For more information about environmental impacts from Hurricane Wilma on the South Florida Water Management District's regional flood control and water management infrastructure, and on the sections of this system that are vital to restoring the Everglades, re-visit this site, as well as www.sfwmd.gov
Northern Everglades
Reviving the River of Grass
After Hurricane Wilma
