On Friday,  February 6, 2026 , Ed and I joined a group tour of the C-23/24 Storm Water Treatment Area put on by Mark Perry and the Florida Oceanographic Society. ACOE’s Major Cory Bell drove along with us and was available to answer questions. It was a very educational and really fantastic day! This part of “Indian River Lagoon South” is about the North Fork of the St. Lucie River that has been negatively impacted by development and agriculture in St. Lucie County.

A large portion of the group consisted of family members: my husband Ed and me; my mother, Sandra Thurlow; my brother, Todd Thurlow and his wife, Deanna Thurlow who works for Florida Oceanographic and together with staff arranged the tour.

It was a chilly day so we were all bundled up as the wind whipped by.  We drove from Stuart/Hutchinson Island to St. Lucie County taking Highway 70, or Okeechobee Road, to the intersection of Sneed Road. This area was once citrus and other agricultural lands and is now part of Indian River Lagoon South – part of CERP –  and on the docket to help clean up the impaired waters of the St. Lucie River.

I know I have written on this before, but I wanted to share some of my photographs and the hand outs as a resource for the public. We also visited Ten Mile Creek Reservoir and Strom Water Treatment area. For simplicity and so as not to confuse, I am focusing on the C-23/24 STA.

You will notice that the C-23/24 STA presently resembles a desert. The project should be completed by the Army Corps of Engineers this year. No water yet, but as we know, it will come….

We also need the two reservoirs to be built. The IDS or scheduled of the ACOE will be coming out soon to let us know where funding and priorities for 2026.

Handouts C-23/24 Strom Water Treatment Area 2026 field trip: