The board of the St. Johns River Water Management District voted on 10 March 2009 to boost its support of the development of the Coquina coast regional seawater desalination facility in Flagler County, Florida, USA.
The district with several other partners is investigating and preparing preliminary design documents for the facility for which the board agreed to allocate US$ 9.8 million in additional funds.
Initially, the district agreed to provide up to US$ 2.5 million in cost-share funding and administrative services for the development of a detailed plan for a seawater desalination facility, and US$ 5 million for construction. Recognizing the importance of the Coquina Coast project to the region, district staff recommended increasing the US$ 5 million construction allocation to US$ 14.8 million.
The district’s share of the preliminary design funding will cover 30% of the costs for the project’s first two phases, which are scheduled to be completed by 2013. Construction is targeted to be completed by 2017.
The other partners are: the Water Authority of Volusia; Flagler, Marion and St. Johns counties; Dunes Community Development District; and the cities of Palm Coast, DeLand, Mount Dora; and the towns of Leesburg, Bunnell and Flagler Beach.
Previous Coquina Coast story here.