Illustrative image; it does not depict the EAA Reservoir or a specific project site.
The South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will be asked Thursday to authorize a $69,781,357 construction contract for a seepage pump station planned to serve the future Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir. The proposed 1,113-day contract with Ric-Man Construction Florida, Inc., is the leading construction item on the board’s Nov. 12 discussion agenda.
The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the District’s headquarters, 3301 Gun Club Road in West Palm Beach. The agenda describes a competitively bid project in Palm Beach County, with the bid opening held Oct. 28. It identifies Ric-Man as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder and says dedicated federal appropriations are budgeted for fiscal year 2026–27. The contract remains a proposed action; the board has not yet voted on it. (SFWMD’s Nov. 12 agenda)
What the $69.8 million contract would build
The S-636 project is designed as a 240-cubic-feet-per-second seepage pump station and would serve as the primary seepage pump station for the future EAA Reservoir, according to the agenda.
The proposed facility would include four electric pumps, each rated at 60 cubic feet per second, along with a gravity-bypass culvert and changes to canals and levees. The listed scope also includes a fuel farm, trash rake, mechanical and electrical systems, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, stilling wells, and riprapped canal intake and discharge.
Illustrative pump-station image; not a photograph of the proposed S-636 site.
This is more than a standalone infrastructure contract in the agenda’s description. The station is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan’s Central Everglades Planning Project, Everglades Agricultural Area Phase. The agenda says that phase includes a planned 10,500-acre reservoir with 240,000 acre-feet of storage, with water delivered to a completed 6,500-acre Stormwater Treatment Area.
The scale matters because the pump station is a construction step tied to the accelerated reservoir schedule. According to the agenda, a July 2025 agreement between Florida and the U.S. Department of the Army moved the target timeline for the EAA Reservoir from 2034 to 2029 and authorized Florida to build the seepage pump station using federal funds. The agenda describes that authorization as supporting the effort to expedite the reservoir; Thursday’s proposed contract would put the station’s construction work before the board.
C-139 basin could add public recreation
The Everglades-adjacent agenda also includes a local-use proposal for the approximately 3,035-acre C-139 Flow Equalization Basin in Hendry County. Consent item 18 asks the board to designate the property as an impoundment area for public recreation and authorize the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to establish it as a public small game hunting area and alligator harvest unit.
The agenda says construction activities at the basin are complete. If the board approves the proposal, District staff would work toward public access and recreational opportunities, including Audubon-led birding tours and FWC-managed hunts. Planned access facilities include a stabilized parking area, trailhead, interpretive kiosks and signage. The agenda says regularly scheduled public access could begin in early 2027 after those facilities are complete.
Illustrative recreation-area image; it does not show the C-139 basin.
The proposal also identifies hiking, biking, fishing and wildlife viewing among possible recreational uses, alongside hunting. Those opportunities are proposed and subject to the board’s action and the subsequent work described in the agenda.
Flooding response and regional water planning
Item 24 asks the board to concur with Emergency Final Order 2026-081-DAO. The agenda says the District issued the order Nov. 3 in response to flooding from the 2026 fall flooding and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Executive Order 2026-227, issued Nov. 2. The emergency order authorized procurement of goods and services for work and other prudent actions intended to protect public health, safety and welfare. The board is being asked to concur with the order’s issuance.
Two proposed university agreements on the consent agenda would support the five-year South Florida Compound Flooding Project, which the agenda says is fully funded by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. The project is intended to improve assessment of compound flooding by bringing inland and coastal processes into coordinated modeling approaches.
The board will be asked to authorize an agreement with Tulane University for $504,437 and one with the University of Central Florida for $571,932. The agenda gives the combined amount as $1,076,369 and says an estimated $115,040 has been allocated by ERDC for fiscal year 2026–27, with remaining funding subject to future allocations and budget approvals.
Another proposed action is approval of the 2026 Upper East Coast Water Supply Plan Update. The plan covers Martin and St. Lucie counties and part of Okeechobee County, with demand projections through 2050. The agenda says the update identifies water sources and strategies to meet projected needs and concludes those needs can be met with appropriate management, alternative water supplies and conservation.
Illustrative wetland image; not a specific site connected to the agenda items.
The board will also consider revisions to the District’s cattle grazing lease policy. Under the proposed changes, rent calculations would use local average prices for 500- to 600-pound steers and heifers, based on the most recent 12-month USDA averages for the Okeechobee and Arcadia livestock auctions. For compliant tenants, beginning in year six, rent would be based on 20% of gross calf sales. The agenda also proposes allowing a credit of up to 40% of annual lease costs for District-preapproved land maintenance.
Item 26 is the Water and Ecological Conditions Report, listed under technical reports.
Amendment 3 is not on the agenda
The Nov. 12 agenda contains no item specifically addressing Amendment 3. That is worth noting amid the continuing questions about the measure’s potential revenue implications for the water district. The Digest’s Nov. 8 coverage examined those questions; Thursday’s agenda, however, does not list a specific Amendment 3 discussion or action.
When and where to follow the meeting
The SFWMD Governing Board meeting is set for Thursday, Nov. 12, at 9 a.m., at District Headquarters, 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach. The public can check the District’s meeting page for online participation details and the published agenda. The central question for the Everglades restoration schedule is whether the board authorizes the proposed $69.8 million S-636 contract.
