INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — A $1 million federal grant will help fund a major sewage system upgrade in Indian River County, Congressman Mike Haridopolos announced at an afternoon press conference Wednesday.
The Member Community Project Funding will go toward a $20.8 million project to retrofit the sewage system in the Ixora Park community, affecting over 230 homes that currently rely on a failing sewer system that risks contaminating environmental resources.
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Haridopolos said, "federal support for this project ensures health and safety to the community by rehabilitating infrastructure for over 230 homes, while also protecting a designated federal resource, the Indian River Lagoon."
The community sits adjacent to the County South Relief Canal, which discharges into the Indian River Lagoon, one of the most diverse estuaries in the country.
"It's dramatically different now from what it was twenty years ago in terms of fishing, swimming. Nobody swims in the lagoon anymore," Keith Drewett of the Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County said.
The Clean Water Coalition says the upgrade is critical because of the area's environmental conditions.
"The water table is so high, there's so much rain that's all just flowing underground through the subsurface," Drewett said.
The project will replace aging sewer infrastructure and is designed to protect water quality by reducing discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus into the lagoon.
Haridopolos said the benefits extend beyond environmental protection.
"By replacing those, which aren't cheap, it improves not only the quality of the water, which we all want to be out on the water, but the other part of it, you also improve the taxable value of your home," Haridopolos said.
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