‘We needed to be bold’: Gov. DeSantis touts state-led Everglades restoration project

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks Sept. 10, 2025 at rainy press conference on Everglades restoration.

The state is now in charge of an Everglades restoration project at the Blue Shanty Flow Way to pump large amounts of clean water south across the Tamiami Trail and into Florida Bay, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced.

“We understand how important clean water is to the life blood of the state of Florida — not just in terms of the aquifer that provides water to millions of people in Southern Florida, but also the way that it impacts Florida’s economy and Florida’s culture,” DeSantis said at a press conference. “We knew that there was a need to take action, and we needed to be bold. We needed to be swift.”

Under an agreement reached this Summer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state can take the lead on a restoration project for the Blue Shanty Flow Way.

Previously, Tamiami Trail acted like a dam to block the water flow from going south, DeSantis said.

“You’re able to uncork the flows of water so that they go down and are used in a really, really big way,” DeSantis said.

If the Blue Shanty Flow Way remained under the control of the Army Corps, cleanup efforts would face delays and the efforts would take years, DeSantis said.

DeSantis and his appointees have touted his administration’s efforts to restore the Everglades during several announcements this year.

“Since 2019, more than 75 Everglades restoration projects have been completed, broken ground or reached key milestones,” said Alexis Lambert, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. “We are reducing harmful discharges, expanding water storage, and achieving meaningful results on time, under budget, and with strong returns for Florida’s taxpayers. Unprecedented state funding has fueled it all.”

DeSantis has also faced critics who accused him of threatening the environment by building Alligator Alcatraz on fragile lands in the Everglades.

DeSantis started the rainy press conference Wednesday by remembering conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s impact. Several Florida leaders and others issued statements condemning political violence and mourning his death.