News

Miami, FL — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) applauded the commencement of site work for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Storage Reservoir project by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the non-federal project sponsor of the EAA Reservoir project. Rubio led the effort to authorize the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) in 2016, and secured its modification to include the EAA project in 2018.
 
“The importance of Everglades restoration to Florida’s water quality and environment cannot be overstated, and I welcome the announcement that site work on the EAA Reservoir Storage, an important component of CEPP, has begun,” Rubio said. “The recent progress we have made on Everglades restoration is critical. We’re finally on a path to completion within our lifetime, and I will not let us slide back into complacency. The restoration of our Everglades is too important to leave unfinished.”
 
Last October, Rubio and Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) urged the Army Corps to address “significant and ongoing concerns” that the Army Corps has failed to comply with a key deadline specified in the law. The authorization required the Army Corps to complete a final report on the project no later than 90 days after the date of enactment, which the Army Corps has still failed to produce. At the time, Rubio and Mast called the delay “simply unacceptable” and “a blatant disregard for congressional directives and intent.”  The EAA Reservoir Project recently received the required federal permit after a delay from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
 
Background on Rubio’s efforts to fix Florida’s water quality issues and restore the Everglades can be found here.