Construction of the C-111 Spreader Canal Phase One project has been complete for nearly a year, a victory made possible thanks to expedition by the South Florida Water Management District. While preliminary reports indicate the project performed well this wet season, future project benefits are closely tied to its operation.

As part of the project’s operating plan, water levels will increase at a certain structure to better counteract the devastating drainage effect of the C-111 canal than just the project pumps and detention basins alone.

Raising water levels in the existing canal system will send even more freshwater to Taylor Slough, the historical freshwater tributary for Florida Bay.

In the years to come, Audubon will work to ensure the project is operated to deliver ecological benefits, such as establishing greater abundances of prey that support game fish and wading bird populations.

From Keys News:

According to water district data, managers used the system's two new pump stations to pull an average of 165 million gallons of water per day out of the C-111 canal from June through mid-November -- the equivalent of 244 Olympic-sized swimming pools daily.

All told, the new system was used to divert nearly 28 billion gallons of water from the C-111 during the wet season.