Water quality improvement project on tap for Lake Beresford

Posted On: January 7, 2021

With improving water quality a high priority, there’s help on the way for Lake Beresford just west of DeLand.

On Thursday, the Volusia County Council unanimously approved a $346,030 construction contract for a new treatment system that will help filter out more pollutants from stormwater before it flows into the lake. The system, which will be along Lakeside Drive, is designed to address contaminants such as oil, fertilizer and pesticides that get captured by rain water gushing across streets and lawns. The project approved on Thursday will divert the stormwater runoff in the area into a detention pond and then through an additional treatment system before it’s discharged into the lake and the St. Johns River.

Council members were delighted Thursday to give the project the final OK for construction.

“This is really good news,” County Chair Jeff Brower said shortly after the council approved the contract.

“It’s just another good thing that Volusia County is doing,” added Councilwoman Billie Wheeler.

In 2019, the county purchased three vacant parcels – two along the north side of Palm Drive and another across Lakeside Drive fronting the lake – in order to clear the way for the project. A 2017 St. Johns River stormwater outfall assessment study that the county commissioned identified the area as a prime location for a stormwater retention and treatment project to help improve water quality in Lake Beresford.

The construction work is being done by 4C’s Trucking & Excavation, Inc. of Bunnell and is expected to take approximately five months to complete. A grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is covering $278,500 of the cost.