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Preserving Paradise Wraps Up With Trip to EAA, C43 Reservoirs

In the last Preserving Paradise session of 2024, participants went to view and learn about critical Everglades restoration projects up close and personal.
The day started with a tour the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir, a keystone project in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to store, clean, and send more water south, reducing the harmful water quality impacts in our estuaries.
They learned how the 10,100-acre EAA Reservoir and its associated 6,500-acre Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) will give water managers much more capacity to store and treat water from Lake Okeechobee before ultimately sending it south to the Everglades, where it is needed most.
They witnessed the vast scope of the EAA Reservoir, which will be able to hold nearly 80 billion gallons of water and help lower Lake Okeechobee by multiple inches.
“The EAA Reservoir will mean less pollution-filled releases to our river, cleaner water in our estuaries, and a lowered risk of devastating algal blooms,” said SCCF Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis.
Afterward, the group headed to the Caloosahatchee River (C-43) West Basin Storage Reservoir, which will help provide beneficial dry-season flows to the Caloosahatchee by storing and treating water from the river, and releasing it when basin runoff is lacking.
“This reservoir will provide critical freshwater flows to our estuary when the basin runoff is too low,” DePaolis said. “In the dry season, without freshwater inputs, saltwater is able to move much farther up in the estuary than many species can tolerate, causing stress to organisms like oysters and tape grass. This reservoir will help us offset those impacts, and hopefully remove some of the nitrogen pollution that is so prevalent in the river.”
The C-43 Reservoir is big enough to hold 55 billion gallons of water, or as much as 73 University of Florida football stadiums!
About the Program
A partnership with Captains for Clean Water, the Everglades Foundation, and the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, Preserving Paradise brought together over 20 regional business leaders eager to learn more and advocate for clean water. Since August, courses were held biweekly and included classroom sessions, panels and group discussions, and in-the-field experiences to drive home central concepts.
“It has been an honor to be part of the 2024 Preserving Paradise Leadership Program with such a great group of community leaders,” said David Lowden, vice president of Bank of the Islands. “Working together, we hope to have the ‘strength in numbers’ to be effective advocates for our economy and our environment.”
“If we fail to protect our waters, we will fail to protect our cherished way of life,” said Calli Johnson, fourth-generation owner/manager of Bailey’s General Store and The Island Store. “This program helped further educate me so I can share that information with others and push the needle on water quality.”
We plan to hold Preserving Paradise again next year. Join the 2025 waitlist!