Winter Haven advances Bradco Farms aquifer recharge and wetlands restoration study with $1.5 million alternatives analysis

City of Winter Haven staff recommended the commission authorize an initial alternatives analysis for the Bradco Farms East Winter Haven Aquifer Recharge and Wetlands Restoration Project with Resource Environmental Solutions (Rez), a green-infrastructure firm, in a contract not to exceed $1,500,000.

The study — expected to take about 10 months after a notice to proceed — will evaluate three approaches to recharging and storing water at the site, including rapid infiltration basins, managed aquifer recharge wells and aquifer storage and recovery systems. The analysis will include geotechnical borings, environmental assessments and a detailed cost estimate to guide a later design and construction phase.

Why it matters: the Bradco Farms site sits at the headwaters of the Peace Creek watershed and within the chain-of-lakes system that underpins Winter Haven’s water supply and local ecology. City staff and Rez said the project aims both to increase aquifer replenishment — they estimated possible recharge at around 2 million gallons per day in conceptual materials — and to restore and protect hundreds of acres of wetlands while providing public nature-area benefits.

City project lead Gary (first name…