KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – The pipes are in the ground – all 17 miles. The pump station at Black Creek's South Prong and the delivery station adjacent to Lake Brooklyn are complete.

The pipes are filled with water from the Black Creek, and testing has started in the first cell for the Black Creek Water Restoration Project.

The quest to replenish the water in Lakes Brooklyn and Geneva started in the 1980s. Mismanagement and abuse, particularly by regional power companies, depleted the water from two lakes, making the tiny city a paradise for the East Coast elites.

Driven by the Save Our Lakes Organization and supported by former Florida Sen. Rob Bradley, Florida Reps. Travis Cummings and Bobby Payne, former St. Johns River Water Management District Chairman Douglas Burnett, former Keystone Heights City Manager Scott Kornegay and SOLO, the project went from a pipe dream in 2017 to approval in 2022 to completion.

State, Keystone Height officials, Clay County Board of Commissioners, St. Johns River Water Management District, SOLO and four local utility companies – Clay County Utility Authority, Gainesville Regional Utilities, St. Johns Utilities and JEA all chipped in to cover the $100 million price tag.

Now it's time to turn the spigot on.

“They've already got water in the pipes for pressure testing,” said Vivian Katz-James. “They’re bringing the water into the holding tank. They're testing the first cell. There are six cells, so the first cell has all the filtration materials. They will test it to make sure the water is up to standard. They’re going to allow a month or two for that. If everything works out, they'll start releasing water into Alligator Creek (and into Lake Brooklyn) a month from now). Then, they'll move to the next cell, and so on We're so excited."

Katz-James said the BCWRP was built to alternate between two three-cell systems. Each cell can pump 12.5 million gallons of water from Black Creek to Alligator Creek and into Lake Brooklyn. From there, the water would eventually overflow into Lake Geneva.

“You know, I’ve been holding my breath all the way,” she said. “I've turned blue several times, but I think it's good to go. Now we're working on getting the Geneva Restoration Project underway.”

Lake Geneva's water levels have been low for the past 50 years that trees and vegetation now cover the lake beds. SOLO has worked with homeowners, Clay County, and Keystone Heights officials to get the forest and vegetation removed before Black Creek restores the water.

Katz-James said SOLO, Clay and Bradford counties, Keystone Heights, St. Johns River Water Management District and homeowners are working to get a permit to cut down the trees and vegetation to restore the environment to pre-1970s conditions.

"There are issues like access," she said. "There are some big trees in some areas."

It’s been five decades, but SOLO now has a voice that’s been heard.

“Pretty much everybody's working together right now to save our lakes,” Katz-James said. “We have support for the Geneva Restoration Project. When that’s done, it will be an exclamation point for everyone who’s had to see these lakes lose water for the last 40 or 50 years.”