Florida is already home to the world’s largest amusement park, and now it’s housing the world’s largest ecosystem restoration project.
A reservoir that is bigger than Manhattan and Staten Island combined is currently under construction in the Sunshine State, and it’s being hailed as “the crown jewel” of a wider Everglades rehabilitation initiative.
Located south of Lake Okeechobee, the biggest freshwater lake in Florida, the 10,100-acre (4,090 ha) reservoir will have the capacity to hold 78 billion gallons of water; plus the project also includes the building of a 6,500-acre stormwater treatment area.
The Everglades Foundation website says: "For those in South Florida, the reservoir means protecting the source of your drinking water. For those along the Treasure Coast and the Gulf Coast, it means a dramatic reduction in the algae-causing discharges that ruin fishing and close beaches. Even if you live in North Florida, the EAA Reservoir means restoration of the iconic Florida Everglades and protecting our state's multi-billion-dollar tourism industry and the millions of jobs it generates."
“It is the single most important project to store, clean, and send water from Lake Okeechobee to nourish the Everglades and supply clean drinking water to millions in South Florida,” Meenakshi Chabba, an ecosystem scientist at the Everglades Foundation, told the BBC.
The reservoir, a joint project between the US Army Corps of Engineers and the SFMD, is a small cog in a large initiative to restore the Everglades. The multi-billion dollar Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was passed by Congress in 2000, and includes 68 infrastructure projects across Florida. The Everglades Foundation tells the BBC the restoration plan is the "largest environmental restoration project" in the world.
As of now, progress is moving “apace” and it’s on track to be completed in 2029.