At a news conference in South Florida on Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a milestone for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir Project.
The project, which is a key component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), is scheduled for completion in 2029.
“This is the largest environmental restoration in the history of the United States of America,” DeSantis said.
And now, all federally funded contracts for the EAA Reservoir have been executed, paving the way to finish the project by 2029.
“This milestone brings us a step closer to delivering on our commitment to restore the Everglades. The July 2025 agreement between the State of Florida and the federal government has made all this possible by cutting red tape with an all-hands-on-deck approach,” DeSantis said. “This is a major victory for America’s Everglades and a testament to the progress our joint federal and state teams have made in just nine months.”
The announcement from the Army Corps confirms that all federally managed contracts necessary to meet the accelerated 2029 completion target are now in place, ensuring that funding and resources will remain secured through project completion.
Under the agreement:
- Construction timelines for the EAA Reservoir have been accelerated by five years.
- Florida has taken the lead on key project components while coordinating closely with the Army Corps.
- Critical infrastructure, including the inflow pump station capable of moving 3 billion gallons of water daily from Lake Okeechobee, is already underway.
- Agreements for the outflow pump station are nearing completion at a significantly faster pace than traditional federal timelines.
According to the South Florida Water Management District, Florida’s water system was altered for decades to prevent flooding, but at the cost of cutting off the natural flow of water to the Everglades.
The EAA Reservoir Project is designed to correct that—redirecting water south, restoring ecosystems, and significantly reducing harmful discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries.
Once complete, the EAA Reservoir will provide lasting benefits for Florida’s coastal communities and unique natural environment, the district said.
The EAA Reservoir Project is a joint Everglades restoration effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District. The project includes two major features: a treatment wetland that cleans water and a reservoir that will store excess water from Lake Okeechobee.
The project includes a combination of canals, stormwater treatment areas (STAs), and a reservoir to reduce harmful discharges to the northern estuaries, send more water south, and improve water quality in America’s Everglades.