Released by Chipola College …
MARIANNA – A grant from the Northwest Florida Water Management District helped the City of Marianna construct a stormwater treatment system that will provide re-used water for irrigation needs on the Chipola College campus while also protecting the Chipola River.
The District’s grant of $671,340 helped pay to construct a 6.75-acre stormwater pond at the north end of the campus. The project also received $792,582 in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and $20,000 from Chipola College.
The pond will retrofit a currently untreated watershed and make treated stormwater available to irrigate 7.22 acres on the campus. This will result in the reduction in the use of groundwater for irrigation needs while improving water quality discharging to the nearby Chipola River. The pond will treat approximately 50 percent (or 192 acres) of the campus’ drainage basin. The system will create approximately 2.73 million gallons annually of re-used water to be used for irrigation on the campus.
Chipola College President Dr. Sarah Clemmons, said, “The college is proud to be a part of this project. We thank Marianna City Manager Jim Dean, a member of the Chipola District Board of Trustees, for his leadership in this effort. Chipola students have enjoyed fishing, swimming and boating in the Chipola river since the college opened in 1947. We are happy to have this beautiful lake on our campus to make sure the water in the river can be enjoyed for generations to come.”
For more information on projects funded under this program, please visit http://www.nwfwater.com/Water-Resources/Funding-Programs/Water-Supply-Grants.