Florida Construction News staff writer
The South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have signed an agreement aimed at accelerating construction of key projects designed to restore the Everglades and improve water flows across South Florida.
The Project Partnership Agreement, signed at the Blue Shanty Flow Way construction site, will allow federal funding to be provided to the State of Florida for projects that are being coordinated with the planned 2029 completion of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir.
The projects include construction of the final state component of the EAA Reservoir — a seepage management pump station — as well as the Blue Shanty Flow Way Project.
The Blue Shanty Flow Way is intended to help move more clean water south across Tamiami Trail and into Florida Bay, supporting the broader Everglades restoration system.
The agreement follows a landmark deal reached in July 2025 between Florida and the U.S. Department of the Army to accelerate Everglades restoration, including the EAA Reservoir, which has been described as a key component of the restoration effort.
“We are acting on our historic agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite Everglades restoration using federal funds and state agility,” South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Drew Bartlett said.
Bartlett said the agreement represents another milestone in the effort to restore the Everglades and will help reduce harmful discharges to northern estuaries while moving more water south toward the Everglades ecosystem.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Commander Col. Brandon Bowman said the projects are important to the long-term environmental and economic future of South Florida.
“The work we do isn’t just about moving water or pouring concrete; it is about securing the ecological and economic future of South Florida for generations to come,” Bowman said.
The latest agreement builds on a series of construction milestones since the 2025 state-federal agreement.
Florida broke ground on the Blue Shanty Flow Way in September 2025, while the Army Corps marked completion of the EAA Reservoir’s inflow/outflow canal and seepage canal that same month.
The state broke ground on a new inflow pump station at the EAA Reservoir in November 2025.
In April 2026, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Army Corps announced that all federally funded contracts needed to accelerate construction of the EAA Reservoir had been executed. The move is expected to allow the reservoir to be completed in 2029, five years earlier than the original schedule, while securing federal funding and resources through completion.
The EAA Reservoir is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), a state-federal initiative to restore the historic flow of water through the Everglades.
Florida has committed billions of dollars to Everglades restoration and water-quality initiatives. During DeSantis’ first term, the state invested $3.3 billion, while he called for an additional $3.5 billion over four years at the beginning of his second term.
The state’s 2026-27 budget includes $1.2 billion for Everglades restoration and water quality, bringing the planned investment during DeSantis’ second term to $6 billion and the total investment during his tenure to nearly $9.5 billion.
Of the $665 million allocated to Everglades restoration in the budget, $475 million is earmarked for CERP.
State and federal officials say the latest agreement will help synchronize construction of the EAA Reservoir and related infrastructure, allowing the projects to work together as part of the broader effort to redirect water south, reduce damaging discharges and improve the health of the Everglades.
