Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday marked another major step in Everglades restoration, joining state and federal officials for the groundbreaking of a new inflow pump station at the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir Project south of Lake Okeechobee.
The new pump station—one of the largest in Florida—will include nine pumps capable of moving roughly 3 billion gallons of water per day from Lake Okeechobee into the EAA Reservoir. Once complete, the reservoir will hold more than 78 billion gallons of water, an amount larger than Manhattan by volume, and will help deliver up to 470 billion gallons of clean water annually to the Everglades, Florida Bay and the Biscayne Aquifer, the primary drinking-water source for South Florida.
Wednesday’s ceremony also marked the 80th milestone event—including ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings, and major project launches—since 2019 under DeSantis’ administration, the most in state history tied to Everglades restoration.
Accelerating a Historic Restoration Effort
DeSantis highlighted a landmark agreement reached earlier this year between Florida and the Trump administration that accelerates the EAA Reservoir’s construction timeline by five years—from 2034 to 2029—while cutting federal red tape and redirecting resources to speed up key restoration components.
“Florida reached a historic agreement with the Trump Administration earlier this year to expedite and advance Everglades restoration,” DeSantis said. “Today, I was pleased to announce a milestone made possible by our cooperation with the federal government. Florida is now breaking ground on the new EAA Inflow Pump Station, an essential component of the EAA Reservoir project.”
The new inflow station is the second major Everglades project to begin since the state-federal agreement was signed in July 2025. Florida also broke ground on the Blue Shanty Flow Way in September, a new system designed to push more clean water south across Tamiami Trail into Florida Bay.
State Environmental Officials Praise Progress
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Alexis Lambert called the reservoir “a critical component” of the broader restoration effort.
“Restoring America’s Everglades is one of the most ambitious environmental restoration projects ever undertaken,” Lambert said. “With every project we are delivering real results on time, under budget and with strong returns for Florida’s taxpayers.”
A Fix for Decades of Water Mismanagement
For decades, South Florida’s water system was engineered to prevent flooding, but the rerouting cut off natural flows to the Everglades and increased harmful discharges into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries. The EAA Reservoir Project is designed to reverse those impacts by restoring the southward movement of water and reducing nutrient-loaded discharges.
Once operational, the reservoir is expected to provide long-term benefits to coastal communities, estuaries and wildlife habitats.
Billions in State Funding Already Deployed
Since taking office, DeSantis has made Everglades restoration and water quality a central focus of his administration:
- The C-44 and C-43 reservoirs are now complete, and the EAA Reservoir is moving ahead on an accelerated timeline.
- Annual nutrient reductions include 1.8 million pounds of nitrogen and 770,000 pounds of phosphorus removed from state waterways.
- Water storage capacity in South Florida has tripled to 176 billion gallons.
DeSantis’ first executive order in 2019 committed $2.5 billion over four years for water quality and restoration efforts—a target exceeded by more than $800 million. His second term has continued at an even faster pace. With $1.4 billion in this year’s FY 2025–26 budget, the state has now allocated $4.6 billion in his second term alone. Nearly $8 billion has been invested in Everglades and water-quality projects since 2019.
Florida officials say the new pump station marks another milestone in a restoration effort that is now moving at one of the fastest clips in state history.
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