February 8, 2018
West Palm Beach, FL - The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board today approved a land purchase from a willing seller necessary to build the proposed Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Storage Reservoir.
"We have said throughout this process that we will work with willing sellers through purchases or swaps to acquire adjacent land within the project's footprint," said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Dan O'Keefe. "By identifying, working with and subsequently closing on a deal with this willing seller to purchase their parcel, the District can use that land as part of the cost-effective and implementable plan that will benefit the northern estuaries and the entire Everglades."
The Governing Board approved purchasing 9.97 acres from a private owner west of the state-owned A-2 parcel in the EAA. This is one of two parcels specifically identified by Senate Bill 10 for purchase when the bill was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott last year. District officials are in the process of negotiations with the owner of additional lands within the proposed project footprint, which were specifically identified in state law.