The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) spans more than 60,000 acres in both Lee and Collier counties. It provides natural flood protection, water purification, and critical aquifer recharge as well as serving as an important habitat for animal species, such as the endangered Florida panther, snail kite, and wood stork.
The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) spans more than 60,000 acres in both Lee and Collier counties. It provides natural flood protection, water purification, and critical aquifer recharge as well as serving as an important habitat for animal species, such as the endangered Florida panther, snail kite, and wood stork.
The historic sheet flow in the region had become drastically altered as residential communities and agricultural operations established themselves. However, these modifications also left the area prone to flooding. Over a period of a decade, the South Florida Water Management District acquired approximately 4,000 acres in the Southern CREW region to implement a project to protect residents and their properties from flooding, while protecting and improving the environment. In 2016, with Enviro-Tech Systems, Inc. (ETS) as their prime Contractor, the SFWMD undertook a project to help restore the natural hydrology of 1,000 acres in the Southern CREW region.
The work completed by ETS included clearing and burning trees and brush along ditch and canal alignments, degrading berms and roads, removing spoil piles, backfilling ditches and canals, developing ditch and canal plugs, and developing low water and culvert crossings. ETS also developed a wood stork foraging area.
ETS applies their unique and extensive experience providing development services in environmentally sensitive areas to successfully develop projects that meet the needs and goals of the client, while conserving or improving important natural resources in a state with increasingly strict regulatory requirements. Partnering with government agencies has allowed ETS to implement numerous water quality and environmental restoration and conservation projects, protecting Florida’s natural environment for generations to come.
