Florida Construction News staff writer
Construction has started on the new inflow pump station for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir, a key infrastructure project designed to restore water flow to the Everglades and improve water quality across South Florida.
EAA Reservoir, located south of Lake Okeechobee, will store more than 78 billion gallons of water—larger than the area of Manhattan—and is expected to deliver up to 470 billion gallons of clean water annually to the Everglades and Florida Bay. It also supports the Biscayne Aquifer, the primary source of drinking water for the region.
“Florida reached a historic agreement with the Trump Administration earlier this year to expedite and advance Everglades restoration,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Today, I was pleased to announce a milestone in Everglades restoration 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. This is the second Everglades restoration project to commence since the agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers last summer, which has empowered Florida to step up our Everglades restoration efforts.”
The groundbreaking marks the 80th milestone event in Everglades restoration that has taken place since 2019, thanks to our leadership and commitment to getting this done.”
An inflow pump station will feature nine pumps capable of moving approximately 3 billion gallons of water per day from Lake Okeechobee into the reservoir, making it one of the largest pump stations in Florida.
The reservoir project is part of a larger effort to restore the natural flow of water to the Everglades, which was disrupted for decades by flood control measures. By redirecting water south, the project aims to restore ecosystems, reduce harmful discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, and provide lasting benefits for Florida’s coastal communities and unique natural environment.
The groundbreaking follows a 2025 agreement between the State of Florida and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that accelerates the construction timeline for the EAA Reservoir from 2034 to 2029 and streamlines federal permitting to fast-track restoration efforts. A related project, the Blue Shanty Flow Way, which will deliver clean water south across the Tamiami Trail into Florida Bay, began construction in September 2025.
Since 2019, several Everglades restoration milestones have been achieved, including completion of the C-44 and C-43 reservoirs. The state’s water storage capacity has tripled to 176 billion gallons, and nutrient reduction efforts have removed more than 1.8 million pounds of nitrogen and 770,000 pounds of phosphorus from Florida’s waterways.
The EAA Reservoir and its pump station represent a major step in ongoing restoration efforts aimed at protecting Florida’s water supply and natural ecosystems.
