What is the Interconnect or C-23 Estuary Discharge Diversion Canal? What does it look like?
Today I am sharing my husband Ed’s aerials of this new South Florida Water Management District built canal that is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan/Indian River Lagoon South project to help clean up the St. Lucie River. You may have seen it under construction when driving west on Highway 714?
Interconnect and C-23 canal
Interconnect and C-23 canal.
Northern Inflow Pump Station (S-457)
Another view C-23 canal and Interconnect
Interconnect Canal intersection with C-23 Canal
Interconnect Canal
Interconnect Canal
Interconnect Canal
Intake Canal C-44 Canal with C-44 Reservoir and STA
Interconnect Canal taken January 9, 2026 by Ed Lippisch.
“The C-23 Canal to C-44 Reservoir Interconnect Canal Project” as published by the South Florida Water Management District on 7-26-22 states that the project’s purpose is to remove excess water from the C-23 Canal to be diverted, via the Interconnect Canal, to the C-44 Reservoir and Storm Water Treatment Area and eventually cleaner to the C-44 Canal which leads to the St. Lucie River.
See north/south pink line connecting C-23 and C-44 Reservoir/STA.
~Project elements include a Northern Inflow Pump Station along the C-23 Canal (S-457)
~Culvert Crossings at CR 714 (S-458) and Coca Cola Road Areas (S-459S)
~Interconnect Canal’s official name is the (C-457)
~The North Segment (1) is three miles long; Middle Segment (2) is three miles long: and the South Segment (3) is one mile long.
~The Southern Fixed Weir Spillway and Service Bridge Structures is called (S-460)
Ed Lippisch’s aerial of the C23/24 STA looking east taken 1-6-26 in St. Lucie County. This STA will clean waters to the St. Lucie River from two reservoirs yet to be built. This STA is scheduled for completion by ACOE by end of 2026 but the reservoirs still need to be constructed.
Happy 2026! After a break the Florida Legislature is back in session and Everglades Restoration is back in the news. About a week ago, my husband Ed asked me what I wanted photographed for the new year, and I replied: “The C23/24 Strom Water Treatment Area in St. Lucie County.”
Ed came back after a morning of flight and said: “I can’t find it.”
“Hmmm, I thought. Maybe because it’s not full of water yet, it is hard to make out?”
After a little more study and pinpointing the entirety of the C23 and C24 Canals we found it! Because the reservoirs are not yet constructed there was little change to the look of the land. Thankfully storm water treatments areas “blend.”
So what “it”?
The C23/24 STA and Reservoirs are the northern part of Indian River Lagoon South. (IRLS) “Indian River Lagoon South” is the St. Lucie River’s portion of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).
This is a very important part of the project and like the rest of Indian River Lagoon South has been a long time coming. And though Governor DeSantis did not mention it yesterday in his State of the State speech, it must be funded.
So where are things now?
Both the Army Corps and the South Florida Water Management District are responsible for completing the project.
Drew Bartlett, Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District noted the following:
~C23/24 Strorm Water Treatment Area is under construction by the Army Corps of Engineers and should be finished in 2026. (above photo)
~C23/24 North Reservoir (to be built by the Federal/ACOE) is ready for construction, but not funded.
~C23/24 South Reservoir (to be built by the State/SFWMD) is ready for construction, but not funded.
~C25 Reservoir (State/SFWMD) is in design and will be ready for construction in 2027.
These giant projects are/have been a shared responsibility. The ACOE and the SFWMD are/have been a team…
Excerpt ACOE IRLS poster includes both Martin and St. Lucie counties. C23/24 is located just north of Highway 70 close to the St. Lucie County Fairgrounds. C25 is even further north and all majorly affect the St. Lucie watershed – once all connected to the famous Alpatiokee Swamp that cleaned and fed the beautiful St. Lucie River.
The Governor’s last budget request focused on fully funding the rest of the EAA Reservoir and CEPP, very important! But did not include a request for Indian River Lagoon South’s C23/24/25 components. If we’re going to finish the job for the St. Lucie River, “it” will need to be included too.
-C-25, Taylor Creek, Ft Pierce, FL July 20, 2013 Jacqui & Ed Lippisch
This aerial photo is an old one. Taken in July of 2013, it became one of the “poster-photos” in the fight to fix the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. This photograph is not of Lake Okeechobee water, but the polluted runoff of C-25, Ft Pierce, St Lucie County.
Yesterday, the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board approved the purchase of 1,583 acres to create a reservoir and storm water treatment area for the the C-25. This means, that over time, this horrible looking sediment-pollution plume will be lessened or even disappear. Good for the Indian River’s seagrass! Good for the hard working residents!
When the modern River Movement began, brought on by the “Lost Summer of 2013,” the entire focus was on the discharges destroying the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon from Lake Okeechobee. The St Lucie/Indian River Lagoon deals with a “two-front war.” The C-Canals (C-44, C-23, C-24, C-25) and often toxic Lake Okeechobee that is discharged through the C-44 Canal along with basin run-off.
The St Lucie River was originally a large fresh water “stream” that ran into the Indian River Lagoon.
What ensued will make the history books:
~The people united against the Cyanobacteria laden Lake Okeechobee discharges that are considered the worst of all the discharges, and pushed for the EAA Reservoir, with the help of Senate President, Joe Negron, and others. The reservoir was approved by Congress in 2018. This was an amazing feat. The EAA Reservoir is ready to go under construction, and will allow more water to go south to the Everglades and less water to be discharged to the St Lucie and Calooshahatee estuaries. This was the first and most important goal.
So now, with that in place, (and continuing to fight for its completion), it is time for the River Movement to expand to the next level of destruction, the C-Canals. Although the betterment of these canals has been part of CERP since the beginning, they are just now seeing their day. All of them fall under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan category, “Indian River Lagoon South,” and there are four of the them in our region: C-44, C-23, C-24, C-25. “C” stands for Canal.
Remarkably enough, the C-44 Reservoir, in Indiantown will go on-line next week as the 1st major CERP project completed and as the first component of “Indian River Lagoon South.”
Because of the ACOE moving forward, in the near future, other C-Canal projects will be completed: 1.C-23 and C-24, done together through the C-23/24 North and South Reservoirs, and the C-23/24 Storm Water Treatment Area; and 2. there is now land for the C-25 Reservoir and Storm Water Treatment Area. (Top of image.)
It is impressive that since 2019, not only was the first construction contract awarded for the EAA Reservoir – and that the SFWMD is building the EAA Storm Water Treatment Area, but that also from 2019-to present, the Army Corp of Engineers is “in design” on C-23/C-24 and, yesterday, the SFWMD bought land for C-25. This is all costing millions of dollars!
I know all of these numbers get confusing. The bottom line is that almost all is in place to to heal our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. (EAA Reservoir; C-44 Reservoir, C-23/24 Reservoir and now even C-25 Reservoir.)
Now we just have to get it all to the finish line.
This will take about ten years so long as all goes well and LOSOM’s outcome is palatable. I will talk more about this in another post.
In closing, for long-working Martin County Commissioner, Sarah Heard, I must mention the last and perhaps most important part of Indian River Lagoon South. The “Natural Lands” component. ~for the birds and other creatures. Part, like Allapattah Flats, is complete but there is more to acquire. See list below.
For now, please try to learn the C-Canals if you don’t know them. We will all need to know them for the the next chapter of the St Lucie River/ Indian River Lagoon!
The St Lucie River was originally a large fresh water “stream” that ran into the Indian River Lagoon. Today the C-Canals built from 1923-the 1960s drain lands and discharge directly in the both the St Lucie River and Southern Indian River Lagoon.
-C-25 2013
C-25 Image used often in Stop Lake O rallies! Rally at the Locks 2013, JTL
C-44 Reservoir and Storm Water Treatment Area (STA)
After weeks of algae Lake O shots, when my husband, Ed, went up in the Baron on June 17th, 2020, I looked at him and said: “Could you please also take some photos of the C-44 Reservoir and STA for an update? I need a positive fix.”
Thus today’s photos of the C-44 Reservoir/STA in Martin County, off the C-44 canal near Indiantown, share good news. Most important for me, the pictures reveal that many more of the STA cells are slowly getting filled with water -in December 2019 they started with one as Governor DeSantis pulled the lever. One can see many more cells are now filled. When complete, these cells will cleanse tremendous amounts of nutrient polluted water prior to entry into the St Lucie River. The ACOE projects that construction will be completed by next year. It has been in progress for many years and is a” cooperative” between the ACOE (reservoir) and SFWMD (STA) and a component of CERP.
Program: Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)
“Located on approximately 12,000 acres on the northern side of the St. Lucie Canal in western Martin County, the C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) project will capture local basin runoff…” ~SFWMD“Achieve More Now”
There are maps and links at the bottom of this post should you like to learn more. Thank you to all over the years and today helping with the completion of the C-44 Reservoir STA as we work to save the St Lucie River.
Martin County: “Martin County’s land acquisition efforts, this most critical and important project would not be under construction today.” (https://www.martin.fl.us/land-acquisition)
