Jacksonville, FL — It's good news for Fernandina Beach residents.
The St. Johns River Water Management District and the City of Fernandina Beach have teamed up on a project that they hope will reduce flooding in the area, while also reducing the amount of pollutants getting into the Amelia River.
According to the project manager, Nitesh Tripathi, the project will cover 26 city blocks, which is about 50 acres.
He says in addition to reducing the amount of pollutants getting into the rivers, there's the secondary benefit of localized flood protection from storm surge and tidal flows.
"We've seen with Hurricane Matthew last year and Hurricane Irma this year, that the stormwater that comes with these rain events actually pollutes the rivers, so, the city came up to us with this project," explains Tripathi.
The project consists of creating shallow swales, essentially trenches, along city streets to provide drainage and stormwater treatment.
The project is costing around $625,000, with the district providing $450,640 through its cost share program that funds construction of water supply and water conservation, water quality improvement, flood protection, and natural systems restoration projects.
We're told the project should wrap up on November 15th.