When I was sworn into Congress in 2017, I made clean water a day-one priority. Now almost ten years later, the finish line is closer than ever. It’s incredible to look back and see how far we’ve come in this fight, step by step, from day one to now.

Here’s a quick summary of what our communities are up against, and why this fight is so vital:

When Lake Okeechobee gets too high, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases the lake’s overflow east into the St. Lucie River and west into the Caloosahatchee River. That nutrient-packed freshwater feeds the toxic algae blooms that gave us our "lost summers." Thankfully, we haven't had one in eight years, but until that water has somewhere else to go, we’re forced to hold our breath during every wet season and hope for the best. 

We shouldn’t have to live like that, which is why I’ve pressured the Army Corps and pushed for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir. The reservoir will store Lake Okeechobee’s water, clean it, and send it down south to the Everglades and Florida Bay.

We’ve come a long way—we got it authorized into law in 2018, we secured record Everglades funding year after year, and thanks to 2025’s landmark agreement with the State of Florida, the project is now running five years ahead of schedule.

The goal is that, come 2029, the lake water flows south and the perpetual looming threat of releases into our waterways gone. 

We’ll get the job done.