$12 million construction contract for Phase 2 of Dona Bay Watershed restoration approved

The nutrient being targeted is nitrogen, which is transported through stormwater runoff and feeds algae and red tide

SARASOTA COUNTY – An effort to improve water quality has made some additional progress in Sarasota.

This week the County Board of Commissioners awarded a $12 million construction contract for Phase 2 of the Dona Bay watershed restoration around the Venice inlet area.

The watershed restoration would also help improve oyster beds and reduce algal blooms.

This phase of the project would install one and a half miles of pipe that would connect the south end of the previous Phase 1 project.

The primary objective is to reduce the freshwater input which had increased in the 1960s due to the addition of the Cowpen Slough canal system.

"That in turn affected the coverage of seagrasses and oysters and reduce the nursery capability of the estuary. When we reduce the freshwater input we will also be reducing the nutrient load to the estuary," Paul Seminick with the Sarasota County Public Works Stormwater Division said.