Groundbreaking flood is bringing hope to the Everglades

While flooding is typically viewed negatively, Thursday morning it was great.

Engineers turned on the pumps and flooded the first cell of the Everglades Agricultural Area. A giant 6,500-acre project with such importance that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came all the way to South Bay.

“The EAA Reservoir is the crown jewel of Everglades restoration, ensuring that we are sending water south and reducing harmful discharges into our waterways,” said DeSantis.

DeSantis smiled and said the opening of the treatment cell was a huge milestone. It will ensure the future health of the Everglades and the Caloosahatchee for generations.

“This is the relief that is desperately needed to redirect the way water flows on the peninsula,” said Eric, the CEO of the Everglades Foundation.

“It’s going to make it so that we can store water here and not have to pump it down the Caloosahatchee, which is really going to help us out in those times of high flows,” said Chauncey Goss, the chair of the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District.

Soon, the stormwater treatment cell will be filled with plants. Those plants will help get all the bad nutrients out of the water, and then they can make their way down to the Everglades.

Goss says that eventually, the reservoir will help rid water of nutrients that scientists say can cause red tide and harmful algae blooms like the ones that devastated Southwest Florida in 2018.

“It’s a step. And it’s not the step. It’s a step. And that’s what you have to remember. Because with Everglades restoration, it’s lots of little pieces,” said Goss.

That, when put together will keep our water fresh and clean.