South Florida - Wednesday February 22, 2023: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), broke ground Thursday on the crown jewel of Everglades restoration, the reservoir component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan that will reconnect Lake Okeechobee to the central Everglades.
The project is the most important Everglades restoration project for reducing harmful releases to the estuaries and sending more clean water south to the Everglades.
“This project is truly a game changer for the Everglades.”, said Col. James Booth, Commander, Jacksonville District. “We will be able to capture, store, treat and release lake water to the central and southern Everglades instead of losing it to tide or having to send it to the estuaries.”
This project is big in many respects. When completed, the reservoir will cover 10,500 acres, or approximately 16 square miles, an area similar to the cities of Stuart and Fort Myers put together. More than 17 million cubic yards of earthen material will be used to construct an embankment that is about 37 feet tall and will store water about 23 feet deep. That translates to a capacity of approximately 240,000 acre-feet of water, or about 5000 Epcot Centers. The total cost of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) EAA phase is estimated at $3.9 billion, a big investment in Everglades Restoration.
“When we started this project in 2018, it was hard to imagine that we would get here, much less in under five years. The team has worked very hard to get to this point (the start of construction). It is nice to take the opportunity to break ground on the largest above ground reservoir in the state and possibly in the country,” said Chrissie Figueroa, USACE Project Manager, EAA Reservoir.
Being able to store more water from the lake and ultimately send more water south will benefit the entire region by improving the health of Lake Okeechobee, reducing releases to the estuaries, rehydrating wetlands in the central Everglades and Everglades National Park, and improving the health of Florida Bay.