On Feb. 15, SCCF celebrated the groundbreaking for Phase II of the Caloosahatchee River Estuary Storage and Treatment (CREST) project.

When finished, the project will use a filter marsh to treat water from the Hendry Canal in Lehigh Acres before it’s transported to the Caloosahatchee, removing an expected 1,622 pounds per year (79%) of Total Nitrogen and 169 pounds per year (76%) of Total Phosphorus. Phase III of the CREST project will utilize the rest of the 104.5-acre parcel for storage to hold water before it can be treated and transported into the Caloosahatchee River.

Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis, left, with South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Chairman Chauncey Goss in front of the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District’s High Water Emergency Service Vehicle.

“Projects like CREST demonstrate the momentum we have right now to improve regional water quality,” said SCCF Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis. “People sometimes think of fixing our water quality as a matter of finishing one large project, but the reality is that it will take incremental growth through myriad projects like this, all contributing to the larger goal of cleaning the Caloosahatchee.”

CREST is being carried out by the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District, which hopes to break ground on Phase III by the end of 2023.