Summary
The Upper Peace River Watershed Restoration Initiative objectives include restoration of surface water storage and flows, aquifer recharge, and improvement to water quality and ecosystems that have been lost, degraded or significantly altered. Restoration is a critical component of Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) plan and the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA) Recovery Strategy.
The Initiative will provide a critical link to a major greenway that extends from Florida’s lower west coast up through the Peace River watershed and Green Swamp, and north to the Ocala National Forest. Projects under the initiative involve Lake Hancock, the upper Peace River and the Peace Creek Canal.
Projected cost*: $497 million through 2025
Partners:
- Polk County
- City of Lakeland
- City of Lake Alfred
- City of Auburndale
- City of Winter Haven
- City of Lake Hamilton
- City of Haines City
- City of Davenport
- City of Dundee
Benefits:
- Enhancement and restoration of natural systems
- Flood protection
- Water quality improvements
- Restoration of minimum flows
Upper Peace River region in the SWUCA
Project components 
Lake Hancock
Lake Hancock is a 4,500-acre lake in the headwaters of the Peace River watershed that extends 120 miles downriver to Charlotte Harbor. Charlotte Harbor is an “estuary of national significance,” and a SWIM priority water body. Lake Hancock is recognized as having some of the poorest water quality in the state, characterized by persistent blue-green algal blooms, high nutrient concentrations and low dissolved oxygen levels. Efforts on Lake Hancock include the Lake Hancock Lake Level Modification project and the Lake Hancock Outfall Treatment project.
Lake Hancock Lake Level Modification
The goal of the Lake Level Modification project is to store water by raising the control elevation of the existing outfall structure on Lake Hancock and to slowly release the water during the dry season to help meet the minimum flow requirements in the upper Peace River between Bartow and Zolfo Springs.
Lake Hancock Outfall Treatment
The Lake Hancock Outfall Treatment project will address the poor water quality discharging from Lake Hancock by routing it through a 1,000-acre constructed wetland treatment system that will reduce nitrogen loading from Lake Hancock by 27 percent.
Lake Hancock
Upper Peace River Resource Development 
This project involves the identification and evaluation of potential water resource development projects in the upper Peace River watershed above Zolfo Springs. The project includes performing elements of the District’s Watershed Management Program. The water resource development projects that are ultimately selected for implementation will enhance low flows, water quality and natural systems within the upper Peace River.
Upper Peace River watershed includes sub-basins Saddle Creek, Peace Creek, Payne Creek and Peace River above Zolfo Springs.
Peace Creek Canal Watershed
The Peace Creek Canal watershed is another area being evaluated as part of the District’s SWUCA Recovery Strategy to help restore flows to the upper Peace River. It is an area that covers approximately 230 square miles, comprising the easternmost headwaters of the Peace River. Over the past hundred years, substantial land alterations have significantly changed the watershed’s hydrology and ecosystems. The most notable alteration was the construction of the Peace Creek Canal in the early 1900s to drain wetlands for agricultural purposes.
Since 2005, the District has diligently worked with adjacent property owners to obtain the necessary access rights to properly maintain the canal. Maintenance activities include aquatic weed control and sediment removal from strategic reaches of the canal. In 2007, Polk County, with funding assistance from the District and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, purchased 14 residential properties along the canal that have repeatedly flooded. In the future, additional improvements such as restoration of previously drained lands or off-stream water-storage areas may also be considered to further improve flood protection benefits and provide water restoration through detention and aquifer recharge.
Peace Creek Canal and drainage area
* Several components of the WRAP are still undergoing feasibility studies. Any costs associated with these projects are therefore estimated.
