Natural wetland restoration with a sustainable living shoreline

Naples Bay Restoration and Water Quality Improvements

Over time, Naples Bay has been dramatically altered by development. Due to various water management projects, it’s expanded in size from approximately 10 square miles to 160 square miles. The city’s environmental stewardship compels it to enhance water quality for its community—because of this, they needed to investigate the ecological and environmental conditions at the Cove pump station outfall.

We provided engineering and environmental services for the 30% design plateau of the stormwater retrofit. Analysis of the conditions at the outfall identified significant sediment transport, a poor ecosystem, and impaired hydraulic conditions from the operation of the Cove Pump Station that serves Basin III. We performed an analysis of stormwater Basin III, city-wide planning initiatives, and historical stormwater improvements, to guide the design through conceptual and preliminary design stages for final city council approval.

For this project, stakeholder involvement was a big priority—our team held a public information meeting to solicit feedback from potentially affected residents and met with The Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The result? The design supports the 20-Year Naples Bay Restoration plan, incorporating water quality improvements with natural wetland restoration to support the sustainable living shoreline concept.