Polk County receives grant for stormwater improvements

Polk County will receive $585,000 for stormwater improvements for the Lake Gwyn Surface Water Restoration project. This area is a vital link between the Winter Haven Chain of Lakes and the Upper Peace River. The Lake Gwyn Watershed will be comprehensively addressed in a future Winter Haven Chain of Lakes restoration plan.

The funding comes from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which has been awarded more than $6 million in grant funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to assist local governments with the protection and restoration of Florida's waterbodies. The funding program, Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Grants, provides money to implement projects and Best Management Practices that reduce runoff and restore Florida’s impaired waters.

These grants help fund important projects that specifically address nonpoint source pollution. Nonpoint source pollution comes from oil, pet waste, pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer, sediment and other contaminants that end up on the ground naturally or from human activity. Rainwater picks up these contaminants as it washes over yards, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, roads and fields and deposits them into our surface waters as nonpoint source pollution.