Army signs partnership agreement on Everglades restoration program

By U.S. Army Public AffairsApril 30, 2021

WASHINGTON -- Mr. Jaime A. Pinkham, acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, signed a project partnership agreement today for the Everglades Agricultural Area phase of the Central Everglades Planning Project. The EAA phase, an important step toward meeting the goals of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration program, will bring approximately 370,000 average annual acre-feet of new water to the Central Everglades.

"This project, essential to our environmental mission, represents an important step in the Biden Administration’s goal of restoring the Everglades ecosystem," Pinkham said. "The United States Army Corps of Engineers will continue to respond to the demands of our time, as it always has. Upon completion, this will be the largest above-ground reservoir in the world. I am proud to sign the Everglades Agricultural Area agreement on behalf of USACE and in coordination with our partner, the South Florida Water Management District."

The project will create a 10,500-acre reservoir with 37-foot-high earthen walls that will hold 240,000 acre-feet of storage when filled to capacity at 23 feet, and will allow approximately 370,000 additional acre-feet of new water to move through the Central Everglades on average per year.

The South Florida Water Management District unanimously approved the agreement, which SFWMD Chairman Chauncey Goss signed during a ceremony with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and representatives from multiple federal and state agencies.

The agreement will allow the USACE Jacksonville District to award the first construction contract this year. Additional contracts will be signed in the future to complete the project according to the 2020 integrated delivery schedule.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works establishes policy direction and provides supervision of Department of the Army functions relating to all aspects of the civil works program of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

For more information, please visit https://go.usa.gov/xHQdd.

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