Stuart, Fla. – President Donald Trump today signed the Water Resources Development Act into law that includes authorization of the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir (known as S.B. 10 on the state level) written by U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18).  The bill had previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives twice (in June and September) and the Senate once (in October).  

In total, the bill contains 9 provisions authored by Rep. Mast, including a section authorizing the reservoir co-written with Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, as well as a provision forcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to re-do the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS) that determines when the Army Corps is authorized to discharge water from Lake Okeechobee.  Together, the provisions are expected to substantially reduce discharges to the east and west coasts.

“Just a few days after I was sworn in as a Member of Congress, I made a promise on the Floor of the United States House of Representatives: that fixing our water quality would be my top priority.  Since then, we’ve secured hundreds of millions of dollars toward that goal and fully funded the rehabilitation of the Herbert Hoover Dike, but authorizing the EAA Southern Storage Reservoir and forcing a redo of the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule are the biggest accomplishments yet in our fight. This was a community effort, and together, I am confident we will keep up the momentum to ensure the funding we need for this infrastructure and make health and human safety the top priority once and for all.”

Full details on the bill are available at http://mast.house.gov/wrda.

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