Today we marked something incredible: thirty years of progress on Indian River Lagoon - South (IRL-South), right here in St. Lucie County. 

One piece of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP): IRL-South C-23/C-24 stormwater treatment area (STA), will store and filter water before it ever reaches the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. 

Removing millions of pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are major contributors to the growth of toxic algal blooms. 

But an STA without its reservoirs is half a project. CERP is critically important to reducing runoff that supercharges harmful algal blooms. I will continue the fight to get those reservoirs funded and built, the same way we expedited the completion of the EAA Reservoir from 2034 to 2029.

The Indian River Lagoon is one of the most biologically diverse estuarine systems in the country. That is something that we need to fight to protect, and that’s why the IRL-South Project is so important to complete.

It takes a village, and it’s our village that’s getting us closer and closer to Florida being everything God intended it to be. 

This is what matters: stop the discharges, clean the lagoon, and send the water south. I’m focused on getting us there, and I’m not resting until it’s done.