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Florida Breaks Ground on EAA Pump Station to Move Lake Okeechobee Water South

State officials say taking over pump construction under a July pact with the Army Corps advances the EAA Reservoir’s finish to 2029.

Overview

  • The new inflow facility will house nine pumps capable of moving about 3 billion gallons of water per day into the Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir.
  • Under the agreement, Florida is building the inflow and outflow stations while the U.S. Army Corps constructs the reservoir basin and 37-foot earthen walls.
  • The 10,000-acre, roughly 78 billion-gallon reservoir is designed to store excess Lake Okeechobee water, route it through treatment areas, and return cleaner freshwater south.
  • Officials say the system will reduce harmful east–west discharges, help stabilize Florida Bay salinity, and bolster recharge of the Biscayne Aquifer.
  • SFWMD’s Drew Bartlett said the station’s flow dwarfs the district’s combined water-supply systems, which move about 1.1 billion gallons per day.