The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has issued an environmental resource permit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin one of the last phases of the Kissimmee River Restoration Project.
The permit authorizes the Corps to backfill approximately 34,000 linear feet of the C-38 canal to restore the historical flow of the Kissimmee River.
The project area is about one-quarter mile north of the U.S. Highway 98 bridge crossing and continues north. When completed, this project phase will restore more than 7,400 acres of the Kissimmee River floodplain.
About the project
The Kissimmee River Restoration Project began in 1999 and is more than halfway complete.
Continuous water flow has been reestablished to 24 miles of the river and this latest project will restore historical flow to another 9 miles.
The overall restoration project is planned to be completed in 2019 and encompasses restoring more than 40 square miles of the Kissimmee River floodplain ecosystem, including 43 miles of river channel and 27,000 acres of wetlands.
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