Groundbreaking on the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir finally began after another delay in December.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) tweeted the good news, saying that the long-anticipated EAA Reservoir groundbreaking ha finally occured.
"After 2 decades of planning and pushing, we finally broke ground on the EAA Reservoir, a linchpin of our #Everglades restoration efforts. And it wouldn’t be possible w/o the Everglades President @POTUS and his historic Infrastructure Law and our $1.5B federal investments," stated Rep. Wasserman Schultz.
After 2 decades of planning and pushing, we finally broke ground on the EAA Reservoir, a linchpin of our #Everglades restoration efforts. And it wouldn’t be possible w/o the Everglades President @POTUS and his historic Infrastructure Law and our $1.5B federal investments. pic.twitter.com/dDw3PWbAea
— Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@RepDWStweets) February 22, 2023
In December, the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir was set back due to a lack of Federal funding.
Reps. Brian Mast (R) and Byron Donalds (R) have expressed strong criticism of the Biden administration for not contributing, with Rep. Mast calling it "the single-most important project when it comes to cleaning up our waterways."
Similarly, Rep. Donalds said that if money for the bipartisan infrastructure bill could be spent elsewhere, surely "you figure they would find some money for the EAA reservoir and frankly the president just failed to do so like he does on so many other things."
The previous January, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) stated that state-level financing of the reservoir remained intact, saying like Mast that "advancing the state’s portion of this project is our number one priority, but the federal government has stalled, most recently failing to dedicate a single cent from its infrastructure package to its portion of this project."
"Advancing the state’s portion of this project is our number one priority, but the federal government has stalled, most recently failing to dedicate a single cent from its infrastructure package to its portion of this project. The Biden Administration must reverse course and dedicate the funds necessary to timely advance their portion of this important project. Florida is doing its part and the Biden administration needs to follow the path blazed by the Trump administration and provide the promised federal support," DeSantis said.
