Keystone Heights residents are a step closer to seeing their parched lakefront properties restored to healthier water levels.
The St. Johns River Water Management District’s Governing Board approved partnership agreements Tuesday with four North Florida water supply utilities to participate in the Black Creek Water Resource Development Project, which will ultimately pump millions of gallons of water back into Brooklyn and Geneva lakes via a pipeline system that will be built to pull water from Black Creek.
“In 2017, we stood on the banks of Lake Geneva and pledged to save the lakes of Keystone Heights. Promise made, promise kept,” said Governing Board Vice Chairman Rob Bradley, a former state senator, in an email to WJCT News. “This generational project will replenish the aquifer and raise lake levels. All three funding partners — the Florida Legislature, the St. Johns River Water Management District and our regional utilities-are indispensable and deserve our thanks and appreciation. Thank you to the talented scientists at the District for making it work.”
Related Reading: Recovering Strategy for the Implementation of Lakes Brooklyn and Geneva Minimum Levels – St. Johns River Water Management District
The agreements were reached with JEA, Clay County Utility Authority, St. Johns County Utilities and Gainesville Regional Utilities.
Dropping water levels have been an issue for decades in Keystone Heights, where docks that formerly stretched out over the water now are surrounded by dry lake beds.
Tuesday’s agreements envision the four utilities collectively paying about $19.2 million into the project, according to WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union, which also reported the agreements still have to be approved by each of the utilities' boards.
Advocates of the project say it’s a key component to providing regional aquifer recharge benefits.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
