$10 million competition to clean up Lake Jesup

Researchers and scientists competing from all over the world

LAKE JESUP, Fla. – Scientists from around the world are competing right now to help clean up Florida's dirty water, specifically by removing toxic algae that is causing high levels of phosphorus in Lake Jesup. 

Tiffany Cowie is the division director for management services and public affairs for the St. Johns River Water Management District and helps oversee the lake, which is one of the largest in Florida. 

"Lake Jesup is one of the water bodies in our state that needs the most love," she said.  "We're all hearing about concerns like algal blooms and when you look a little deeper, you think about the quality of life for animals and plants in there." 

Because of the high phosphorus levels, the lake is the perfect spot for the Everglades Foundation's $10 million George Barley Water Prize, a competition for scientists and researchers to design, engineer and build a system near the lake to clean up the water. 

"What we're looking for here at the site of Lake Jesup is a scientific breakthrough that will help us remove phosphorus from water in a much more cost-effective manner," Loren Parra, director of the George Barley Water Prize, said.  

The competition has whittled down 104 contestants from 13 counties to the final five contestants. 

Leon Korving is among the finalists, with his team traveling from the Netherlands. 

"There's this big prize of $10 million that attracts a lot of attention," he said. "We need to find a solution because there are more people in the world and we really need to address this issue." 

Water testing for these contestants should start in the summer of 2020.


About the Author:

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

Recommended Videos