MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A long-awaited project in the Everglades is underway after the Friday groundbreaking for a massive underground curtain wall in southwest Miami-Dade County west of Las Palmas. It’s intended to manage flooding and allow more water to stay in the Everglades and move into the Florida Bay.
Nearby communities just east of the Everglades have suffered severe flooding. County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz said he’s seen people lose their homes to the water damage.
“There’s great future for our parks and great future for our farmers, and our residents, too,” he said.
Pedro Ramos, the superintendent of Everglades National Park, said it’s not only crucial to mitigate flooding but to keep water in the Everglades.
“It helps keep the terrestrial Everglades healthy, and it ensures that Florida Bay will thrive,” Ramos said. “Unless we control the loss of water to the eastern boundary of the park, we will not be able to achieve restoration.”
The wall will be 63 feet deep and 26 inches wide and will run about 2.3 miles long. Construction for the project, which has been in the works for years, started about a week ago and is expected to be finished by April 2022.