Kim Ornberg, PE, Manager, Watershed Management Division, Seminole County Public Works
The Alton Drive Pond Retrofit Project – the purpose of this project is/was to improve the efficiency of the existing Alton Drive Pond by converting it into a wet pond (which means it has several feet of water all year round), and install- ing an innovative bioretention underdrain filtration system that uses aquatic plants and bio-absorptive material (BAM) to provide additional water quality treatment to the original 44 acre drainage basin. The project also reroutes an additional 14 acre basin into the pond that had been discharging directly into Lake Asher, so the pond now treats over 72% of the entire Lake Asher watershed. The BAM used for this project is called Bold & Gold and was developed and patented by the UCF Stormwater Academy. This project improves the quality of both the surface and groundwater in the Bear Lake Chain of Lakes and the Wekiva Springs Basin. It is estimated that the pond now removes nearly 23 pounds of Phosphorus and over 110 pounds of Nitrogen each year. Funding for this project was provided by state grants and the 2014 Penny (Infrastructure) Sales Tax.