Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced a new agreement between Florida and the Army. This accelerates the advancement of several key elements of Everglades restoration, including the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir.
Formed through the memorandum of agreement and the accompanying memorandum of understanding, Florida can assume a leading role in building a specific part of the Comprehensive Everglades Repair Plan (CERP), a long-term federal initiative to restore natural water flows in South Florida.
Considered one of the most important projects under CERP, EAA Reservoir is designed to store over 78 billion gallons of water and supply the Everglades and Florida Bay with up to 470 billion gallons of treated water per year. The reservoir also supports the Biscayne aquifer, which supplies drinking water to most of South Florida.
Under the terms of the agreement, Florida is authorized to build several key components of the EAA Reservoir System, including inflow and outflow pumping stations. The US Army Corps of Engineers will continue to oversee the construction of the reservoir. The project’s completion timeline increased by five years from 2034 to 2029.
“This project has progressed faster than expected over decades and decades thanks to this new collaboration,” DeSantis said.
In addition to the EAA reservoir, the agreement gives Florida authority over other CERP projects, including the Blue Shanty Flow Way, a key component for delivering water south of the Tamami Trail. It also streamlines permitting and monitoring procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays in future remediation efforts.
Lee Forsglen, acting Army Deputy Secretary for Civil Work, described the agreement as a major step to speeding up project delivery. “By strengthening our partnership with Florida, we are promoting the work of restoring the Everglades based on President Trump’s historic commitment in the 2026 budget,” he said.
Everglades’ restoration efforts are attempting to undo decades of man-made changes to South Florida’s water system. Past changes have helped to control flooding, but have destroyed natural water flows, damaged ecosystems, and contributed to harmful emissions to coastal estuaries.
Alexis Lambert, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, emphasized his familiarity with the landscapes of the Florida Everglades. “Floridians understand the Everglades better than anyone else. Our goal is alongside our federal partners. We’re rethinking the Everglades in America,” Lambert said.
Since 2019, Florida has completed several major Everglades-related projects earlier than its schedule, including C-43 and C-44 reservoirs, and has made nutritional reduction efforts to remove millions of pounds of contaminants from the state’s waterways.
The announcement highlighted progress at the state level, but also included criticism of the delays in the Biden administration. State officials cited a slow timeline for federal projects managed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of the Interior. In contrast, they said South Florida’s water management district consistently delivers projects faster and lower costs.
The newly signed agreement builds on its momentum and aims to ensure faster and coordinated progress in one of the nation’s largest and most complex environmental remediation efforts.
