Posted on April 14, 2026
BELLE GLADE, Fla. – (April 13, 2026) Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle announced decisive action to fast-track completion of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir Project, with construction now targeted for completion by 2029 and select project actions delegated to the State of Florida.
“The Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir will improve the flow of clean water when and where it’s needed to restore the Everglades, protect drinking water, and fuel economic certainty in Southern Florida,” said Telle. “The action announced today is a monumental step towards Making America Beautiful Again, enforces the timeline to complete the EAA Reservoir by 2029, and indisputably solidifies President Trump as The Everglades President.”
Expedited completion of the EAA Reservoir Project is a prime example of the Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork initiative in action: to finish nationally significant work with greater effort and emphasis and leverage support from our non-federal partners as a force multiplier for faster delivery. The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir is one of four phases within the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP). Construction of the reservoir is being executed through three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracts: Contract 10A, which includes the inflow, outflow, and seepage canals and is now complete; Contract 11A, which covers the reservoir foundation and is scheduled for completion by March 2028; and Contract 11B, which includes the reservoir embankment and water control structures, with a required completion date of December 2029.
In 2025, a historic agreement between the U.S. Army and the State of Florida advanced the EAA Reservoir construction timeline by five years – reinforcing the commitment outlined in President Trump’s FY26 budget to expedite Everglades restoration.The CEPP EAA Reservoir will capture, store, treat, and move water from Lake Okeechobee – water that would otherwise be lost to tide – south to the central and southern Everglades when it is needed most. Designed to store more than 78 billion gallons of water, the reservoir will deliver up to 470 billion gallons of clean water each year to the Everglades and Florida Bay.
The agreement streamlines federal processes, allowing the USACE to focus on constructing the reservoir’s foundation, embankments, perimeter canals, and structures, while the South Florida Water Management District constructs seepage and inflow pump stations and assumes responsibility for the Blue Shanty Flow Way.
Originally projected for completion in 2034, the EAA Reservoir is now on track for completion by 2029 – delivering faster water quality improvements and environmental benefits to South Florida’s estuaries, coastal communities, and economy.
EAA Reservoir by the Numbers:
- 17,000 acres
- 26.5 square miles
- Larger than Manhattan by land mass
- 33.2 million cubic yards excavated – Equivalent to 10 Great Pyramids of Giza
- 725,000 dump truck loads
- Nearly 7 stories tall
- Almost a football field wide
- 3 draglines in operation
- Includes 1 of only 3 Mteck 2100E draglines
