Everglades project groundbreaking major step forward for restoration

It’s a huge milestone in the restoration of the Everglades. Work is now underway on a better way to move water into the parched Everglades.

The project has been in the works for years, and now, crews have broken ground on the project, allowing it to finally get into the building stage.

Wednesday’s groundbreaking marked a major milestone in being able to send water from Lake Okeechobee south, instead of only east and west.

Dr. Timothy Petty is a water and science assistant secretary with the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. He says, “Ceremoniously doing it in a very wet season right now. A lot of water, a lot of water needs to move.”

One of the goals is to reinvigorate Florida’s Everglades.

Kyle Keer, a senior project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District also said the idea is to increase the “quantity, quality, timing, and distribution.”

Through a system of culverts, or tunnels, water will flow south into the Everglades, under Tamiami Trail, and into Florida Bay, serving as one piece of the restoration puzzle.

This latest step is a huge undertaking to expand the storage and treatment of water south of Lake Okeechobee and remove canals and levees within the Everglades.

And in turn, can help coastal communities.

Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Noah Valenstein, said they’re “doing all of this work to both stop discharges going out to the coast, but those discharges need to get down south where the park needs it or Florida bay needs it.”

This effort can’t happen overnight. The Central Everglades Planning Project is expected to be complete in 2030.