39th Environmental Permitting Summer School

Wetlands provide natural, sustainable, and environmentally beneficial water quality improvement. This exciting course will include a detailed overview of treatment wetland applications, design and permitting, and recent trends and innovations to address some of the state’s most complex challenges associated with surface water quality and water supply shortages. Surface water quality protection will be highlighted by how SFWMD is using treatment wetlands to restore and protect ecologically sensitive areas of South Florida. The Everglades Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) cover over 62,000 acres and represent the largest constructed treatment wetlands in the world. Operation of the STAs is governed by permits and consent orders that include a stringent water quality-based effluent limit (WQBEL) for phosphorus. Water resource augmentation using treatment wetlands will be highlighted by multiple projects that reuse wastewater effluent providing multi-functional and multi-beneficial systems that protect water quality, enhance water availability, and protect public health. Recent advancements include new interpretations of the Florida Administrative Code to better target natural recharge areas for groundwater augmentation, couple treatment wetlands with groundwater recharge via injection, and include treatment intensification to provide treatment of micropollutants, including unregulated contaminants and PFAS, in potable reuse applications.