My day one promise
Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir
Sending the water south
No project matters more to ending the toxic discharges on the Treasure Coast. Here is how the EAA Reservoir went from a fight on the House floor to construction running ahead of schedule.
The goal78 billion gallons of clean water, flowing south by 2029
Phase One — Authorization
2018
May 29, 2018
A commitment to build, won in committee
Rep. Mast secured a commitment from Transportation & Infrastructure leadership to authorize the EAA Reservoir in 2018's water infrastructure development bill — and passed his own amendments to develop algae-filtration technology and re-evaluate the Lake Okeechobee discharge schedule.
Read the press releaseSept. 10, 2018
Bicameral momentum
Mast worked with then-Sen. Marco Rubio and former Sen. Bill Nelson to draft language authorizing the reservoir, lining up support on the Senate side.
Oct. 10, 2018
Through Congress
The Water Resources Development Act — America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 — cleared Congress with the reservoir authorization intact and headed to the President's desk.
Read the press releaseOct. 23, 2018
Signed into law
President Trump signed the bill (P.L. 115-270). For the first time, the EAA Reservoir — the single most important project for ending discharges to the St. Lucie — was federally authorized.
Phase Two — The Fight to Build
2019 – 2022
Oct. 23, 2019
Holding the Corps to the law
One year to the day after authorization, with the Army Corps behind on a required report, Mast and Rubio called the delays "simply unacceptable" and demanded the Corps stop stalling the project.
Read the press release2020
Clearing the "new start" roadblock
When the Corps tried to slow the project by labeling it a "new start," Mast secured language clarifying that no such designation was needed for construction to begin.
Read the WRDA pageDecember 2022
Prioritize and expedite — by law
WRDA 2022 carried Mast's report language directing the Army Corps to prioritize and expedite completion of the reservoir, alongside his $100M Northern Estuaries Restoration Plan.
Read the press releasePhase Three — Shovels in the Ground
2024 – 2026
January 2024 Milestone
The treatment marsh is finished
Florida completed the 6,500-acre stormwater treatment area beside the reservoir — the wetland that cleans the water before it heads south.
July 18, 2025 Milestone
Five years cut from the clock
A landmark agreement between Florida and the U.S. Army moved the reservoir's completion date from 2034 to 2029 by letting the state lead construction of key components.
Read the agreementSept. 10, 2025 Milestone
Blue Shanty Flow Way breaks ground
Crews began removing ten miles of berm along the Tamiami Trail — the "last mile" that lets clean water flow south into Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
Nov. 6, 2025 Milestone
The pumps that move the water
Groundbreaking on the inflow pump station — nine pumps built to move roughly 3 billion gallons of Lake Okeechobee water into the reservoir each day.
April 13, 2026 Milestone
Every federal contract, executed
All federally funded contracts for the reservoir were finalized with more than $2 billion secured — locking in the accelerated, five-years-ahead schedule.
2029 The goal
Water flowing south
When complete, the reservoir will hold 78 billion gallons, clean it, and send it south — restoring natural flow and easing the toxic discharges that have battered the Treasure Coast for generations.
"That's the day one promise, and I intend to keep it. We will get the job done."
Rep. Brian MastBrian Mast • Florida's Treasure Coast