PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave his first remarks Thursday morning at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Palm Beach County after suspending his 2024 presidential campaign.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton and South Florida Water Management District Chairman Chauncy Goss joined DeSantis at the EAA Reservoir Project Site, near the north entrance to the South Florida Water Management District A1 Flow Equalization Basin.
DeSantis said starting Thursday, crews will begin filling the first of three cells in the 6,500-acre Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir Stormwater Treatment Area in South Bay, western Palm Beach County.
The EAA Reservoir is part of an effort to store, clean, and funnel water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Everglades. The goal is to help to restore South Florida’s natural freshwater flow.
“This is an important part of the vision of being able to send water south,” DeSantis said. “This entire stormwater treatment area will be full of water this summer.”
Construction on the stormwater treatment area started in April 2020.
During DeSantis’ first term as governor, the state spent $3.3 billion on Everglades restoration and water quality improvements. For his second term through 2027, Florida is pledging an additional $3.5 billion.
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said in a video on X, the same platform used to launch his campaign in May 2023. “He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
Watch the full ceremony in the video below.