Every summer, toxic green slime covers Florida's rivers and kills the fish families have caught for generations.
Biden had the fix on his desk – and buried it for five years.
Now DeSantis just locked in $638 million to finish it anyway, and Democrats need you to not know how close they came to making that poison permanent.
Biden Moved the Goalposts and Hoped Nobody Noticed
The Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir – the crown jewel of Everglades restoration, according to the Everglades Foundation – is the single most important water infrastructure project in South Florida.
It captures excess water from Lake Okeechobee, cleans it, and sends it south where it belongs.
Without it, the Army Corps of Engineers has no choice but to flush that same toxic, nutrient-loaded water east into the St. Lucie estuary and west down the Caloosahatchee.
That's where the blue-green algae come from.
That's where the beach closures and the dead manatees come from – summer after summer, year after year.
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The EAA Reservoir was the answer.
Trump's first term built the momentum.
Then Biden took over – and quietly pushed the project's completion date from 2029 to 2034.
DeSantis said it plainly at an April 2026 press conference: "During President Trump's first term, when I came in, he was a great partner in all of this. Biden just was not."
Five more years of toxic summers.
Five more years of South Florida families watching their rivers turn green and their fishing spots die.
Biden didn't mismanage it.
He made a decision.
DeSantis Built the Machine Biden Refused to Run
In July 2025, DeSantis reached a landmark agreement with the Trump White House – handing Florida direct control over federally funded components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and pulling the completion date straight back to 2029.
What Biden stole in four years, one deal reclaimed.
In April 2026, the Army Corps confirmed every federally funded contract was fully executed – construction locked on three parallel tracks: inflow and outflow canals already finished, reservoir foundation due March 2028, and the full embankment and water control structures completed by December 2029.
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The following month, Army Corps crews completed one of the largest blasting operations in the project's history, clearing rock and advancing the reservoir foundation on the accelerated schedule.
When finished, the reservoir will hold enough water to cover Manhattan in more than 200 feet of freshwater and push up to 470 billion gallons of clean flow south to the Everglades and Florida Bay each year.
The Florida Legislature followed through.
The FY 2026-27 budget passed with $638 million for Everglades restoration – including the state's full share of the EAA Reservoir.
Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez delivered.
The Scoreboard Biden's Team Will Never Show You
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan launched in 2000 as the largest ecosystem restoration effort in American history.
For two decades, it crawled.
Since DeSantis took office, it has run.
His administration has secured nearly $9.5 billion in total investment for Everglades restoration and water quality – records broken in consecutive years through both terms.
The Everglades Foundation puts the Everglades' economic value at $1 trillion.
Biden's four years cost South Florida families five summers of toxic discharges they didn't have to live through.
Trump called it Making America Beautiful Again.
The Army Corps called DeSantis the Everglades Governor.
The Legislature just called it done – and the families on the Caloosahatchee are the ones who finally win.
Sources:
- "Governor Ron DeSantis Celebrates Major Milestone in Everglades Restoration with Full Execution of Accelerated EAA Reservoir Contracts," Executive Office of the Governor, April 13, 2026.
- "ASA Announces Expedited Completion of the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir Project," Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, April 14, 2026.
- "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Delivers Historic Progress at Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir Project," U.S. Army, May 14, 2026.
- "Everglades Foundation Statement on Florida Legislature Passing FY26-27 Budget with $638 Million for Everglades Restoration," Everglades Foundation, May 2026.
- "Everglades Trust Statement on Legislature Passing Budget with $638 Million for Everglades Restoration," Florida Daily, June 2026.
- "Governor Ron DeSantis Announces the Floridians First 2026-2027 Budget," Executive Office of the Governor, December 10, 2025.
