A Decade of Progress: 10 Years Since the Water Crisis in St. Lucie Estuary
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 13
August 11, 2026
STUART, Fla. — On Friday, August 7, The Everglades Foundation led a gathering of community leaders, government officials, and advocates at the Stuart Boardwalk to mark a decade since the 2016 water crisis that devastated the Treasure Coast and to celebrate how far Everglades restoration has come since.
Where It Began
Ten years ago, Stuart was ground zero. In 2016, billions of gallons of nutrient-laden water were discharged from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, blanketing local waterways with thick, toxic blue-green algae. The blooms forced "do not touch" health advisories, shuttered waterfront businesses during the Fourth of July holiday, and dealt a devastating blow to the region's environment, economy, and way of life.
But out of that crisis came a movement - #NowOrNeverglades. Residents, business owners, anglers, realtors, and tourism leaders refused to give up. They traveled across the state and all the way to Tallahassee with one demand: clean the water and send it south.
Joe Negron and the Fight for the Reservoir
That year, the plight of the St. Lucie River reached Senator Joe Negron, a Stuart native. Negron championed the ambitious plan to build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to store, clean, and redirect water toward America's Everglades and Florida Bay.
His leadership culminated in the passage of Senate Bill 10, signed into law in May 2017 — landmark legislation that set the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir in motion. As local environmental champion and former South Florida Water Management District board member Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch reflected, "An impossible dream came true."
A Morning on the Water
The day began on the St. Lucie River, where fishing guide Mike Holliday of Captains for Clean Water led a boat tour for members of the press, The Everglades Foundation and the Florida Oceanographic Society. Along the way, participants saw signs of a river coming back to life: returning seagrass, blue crabs, queen conch, and other marine life — alongside areas still recovering from the discharges.
"As we went out in the estuary this morning, we saw how nice it is, the oyster reefs and the seagrass are thriving now. It's because we've been working hard on these projects and keeping it going,” said Mark Perry, Executive Director at Florida Oceanographic Society at the press conference. “It takes champions, but it also takes persistence and pressure from all of us in this community. We're not done."
Watch Recap Video
Commemorating a Decade of Progress
At the Stuart Boardwalk, speakers gathered for a press conference to commemorate ten years of progress. Today, the $4 billion EAA Reservoir is under construction and ahead of schedule, a milestone that seemed impossible in the summer of 2016. That accelerated timeline is the result of a strong state-federal partnership under Governor Ron DeSantis, whose leadership and historic funding commitment to Everglades restoration, in coordination with federal partners, moved the project forward five years ahead of its original schedule.
"What was once a concept has become one of the largest and most important civil works projects underway anywhere in the United States,” said Chief of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Everglades Agricultural Area Integrated Project Officer Eva Velez. “This project demonstrates what can be accomplished when federal and state government work toward a common goal. One of the most remarkable aspects of this project has been the pace at which it has been accelerated. The project remains on track for completion in 2029."
Led by The Everglades Foundation, the press conference brought together U.S. Representative Brian Mast; Eva Velez of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ; Tom Hurley, Governing Board Member of the South Florida Water Management District; Eric Eikenberg, Chief Executive Officer of The Everglades Foundation; Stuart environmental leader Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, Chris Wittman, co-founder of Captains for Clean Water, and Mark Perry of Florida Oceanographic Society, partners united in a shared mission to restore the flow of clean water south.
"Ten years ago, we were at this exact site with toxic blue-green algae behind us in the St. Lucie,” said Eric Eikenberg of The Everglades Foundation. It was an estuary in crisis. We've come such a long way. The community has rallied and because of that we now have a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee coming out of the ground that will store, clean, and send water south to the Everglades, avoiding the harmful discharges to Stuart, the St. Lucie Estuary, and this part of the state."
Looking Ahead
The recovery of the St. Lucie River is proof of what's possible when a community refuses to give up. With the EAA Reservoir rising out of the ground and clean water on its way south, the Treasure Coast is a living example that restoration works.
Everglades restoration is working — and it's worth it.
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