{"id":57744,"date":"2025-09-02T17:56:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=57744"},"modified":"2025-09-02T17:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:56:29","slug":"city-of-lakeland-awarded-nearly-1-million-grant-for-lake-morton-water-quality-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2025\/09\/02\/city-of-lakeland-awarded-nearly-1-million-grant-for-lake-morton-water-quality-project\/","title":{"rendered":"CITY OF LAKELAND AWARDED NEARLY $1 MILLION GRANT FOR LAKE MORTON WATER QUALITY PROJECT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The City of Lakeland has been awarded $994,401 through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection\u2019s (FDEP) Innovative Technology Grant Program to support the&nbsp;<em>Nutrient Removal Innovative Technology Demonstration Project<\/em>&nbsp;at Lake Morton.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"537284\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 275px) 100vw, 275px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/images-1.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57745 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #537284; width:497px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This grant will fund the deployment of advanced technology <span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">to reduce nutrient levels, mitigate harmful algal blooms, and address legacy nutrient buildup in the lake. The project will utilize a\u00a0<em>Phosphorus Elimination System with Denitrification Modules<\/em><\/span> developed and patented by Surface Water Infrastructure Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three temporary modules will be installed along the shoreline of Lake Morton. These units will pump lake water through two layers of patented nutrient-reducing media. The treated water will then be collected via underdrain pipes and returned to the lake. In addition, native and beneficial vegetation will be planted around the modules to support ecological health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The primary goal of the project is to demonstrate a fully customizable, mobile water treatment system that can be adapted, disassembled, and relocated as needed. Anticipated outcomes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reduced algal biomass<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lower nutrient concentrations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improved water clarity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increased light penetration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These improvements are expected to foster the return of submerged aquatic vegetation, further enhancing water quality and providing habitat for Lake Morton\u2019s diverse wildlife. Lake Morton has exceeded the state\u2019s Numeric Nutrient Criteria, prompting the FDEP to approve a Nutrient Reduction Plan (NRP) in 2021. This plan requires the City to take specific actions to improve water quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re excited to showcase this cutting-edge technology to combat algae blooms and enhance surface water quality across our City lakes,\u201d said Laurie Smith, Manager of Lakes and Stormwater. \u201cWhat makes this system particularly valuable is its adaptability. It can be configured to fit the unique conditions of any lake, expanded or downsized as needed, and easily moved to another location. That flexibility will be key in restoring other nutrient-impaired lakes in Lakeland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At its meeting on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, the Lakeland City Commission authorized City officials to execute the grant agreement with the FDEP. The demonstration project at Lake Morton is scheduled to begin operations in early 2026 and will continue through May 2029.&nbsp;For more information about the Lake Morton project or the City\u2019s broader lake restoration efforts, please contact Laurie Smith at&nbsp;<strong>863-834-6276<\/strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"mailto:laurie.smith@lakelandgov.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">laurie.smith@lakelandgov.net<\/a><\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The City of Lakeland has been awarded $994,401 through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection\u2019s (FDEP) Innovative Technology Grant Program to support the&nbsp;Nutrient Removal Innovative Technology Demonstration Project&nbsp;at Lake Morton.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDlcL2ltYWdlcy0xLndlYnA_Zml0PTI3NSUyQzE4MyZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkNJVFkgT0YgTEFLRUxBTkQgQVdBUkRFRCBORUFSTFkgJDEgTUlMTElPTiBHUkFOVCBGT1IgTEFLRSBNT1JUT04gV0FURVIgUVVBTElUWSBQUk9KRUNUIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.ZY2DdBi7x_xUppTH055lqZlqPqynSkf2ab7duo6XJT0MQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":57745,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/images-1.webp","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[7591],"tags":[12139],"class_list":["post-57744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-of-lakeland","tag-city-of-lakeland-awarded-nearly-1-million-grant-for-lake-morton-water-quality-project"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57746,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57744\/revisions\/57746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}