Illustrative image; it does not depict the S-636 project site.
The South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board is scheduled to consider a $69.8 million contract today for a pump station that would serve the future Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir. The Nov. 12 agenda recommends awarding the 1,113-day contract to Ric-Man Construction Florida, Inc., but the district’s published agenda materials do not establish whether the board has approved it.
The decision is listed as discussion item 25 at the board’s 9 a.m. meeting at District Headquarters, 3301 Gun Club Road in West Palm Beach. The recommendation is to authorize a contract for $69,781,357. The agenda identifies Ric-Man as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder and says the project is funded through federal appropriations budgeted for fiscal year 2026–27.
The board’s action, not the staff recommendation, is the key development to watch. The district’s agenda item page links to the proposed resolution, but does not show a vote tally or disposition. The official meeting agenda likewise presents the contract as a recommended action.
This is a same-day follow-up to our preview of Thursday’s meeting. The central question now is whether the board authorizes the contract, changes course, or postpones action.
What the proposed contract would build
According to the district agenda, the S-636 Seepage Pump Station would be the primary seepage pump station for the future EAA Reservoir, a major component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan’s Central Everglades Planning Project.
The planned station is rated at 240 cubic feet per second, using four electric pumps, each with a 60-cfs capacity. The project scope also includes a gravity-bypass culvert and modifications to canals and levees. Other listed components include a fuel farm, trash rake, mechanical and electrical systems, supervisory control and data acquisition systems, stilling wells, and riprapped canal intake and discharge.
Illustrative infrastructure image; it is not a photograph of the proposed S-636 facility.
If approved, the award would cover construction work under a 1,113-day contract. That term is not, by itself, a confirmation of the pump station’s completion date. The agenda describes the station as infrastructure serving the future reservoir and says the contract would support efforts to expedite the larger restoration project.
The district’s agenda describes the EAA Reservoir as a planned 10,500-acre facility with 240,000 acre-feet of storage. Water from the reservoir is intended to move to a completed 6,500-acre Stormwater Treatment Area for water-quality treatment.
The reservoir schedule was accelerated under a July 2025 agreement between Florida and the U.S. Department of the Army, according to the agenda. The agreement moved the target timeline from 2034 to 2029 and authorized Florida to construct the seepage pump station with federal funds.
Recent construction progress provides broader context, but does not determine today’s vote. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported Nov. 5 that foundation and cutoff-wall work on the reservoir’s Contract 11A had reached 50%, with about eight of 15.84 miles complete. The Corps said the work was 34 days ahead of schedule and was expected to finish in March 2028. The Corps’ update describes progress on a separate construction contract.
Other Everglades and water-management items
The meeting agenda includes other items with potential local implications, though they are separate from the S-636 contract.
Consent item 18 asks the board to designate the approximately 3,035-acre C-139 Flow Equalization Basin in Hendry County 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 district’s agenda says construction at the basin is complete. If the board approves the proposal, staff would work toward opening regular public access in early 2027, after planned facilities (including parking, a trailhead, kiosks and signs) are in place. Proposed activities include hunting, hiking, biking, fishing and wildlife viewing.
Item 24 asks the board to concur with Emergency Final Order 2026-081-DAO. The district says it issued the order on Nov. 3 in response to fall flooding and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Nov. 2 executive order. The emergency order authorized procurement and other actions intended to protect public health, safety and welfare during the flooding response.
Illustrative Everglades habitat; this image does not show the C-139 basin.
Items 20 and 21 concern regional water planning and flood-related work. The board is being asked to authorize agreements with the University of Central Florida and Tulane University for a district project on compound flooding, which the agenda says is funded by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. The board is also being asked to approve the 2026 Upper East Coast Water Supply Plan Update, which covers Martin and St. Lucie counties and part of Okeechobee County, with demand projections through 2050. Item 19 proposes revisions to the district’s cattle grazing lease policy.
Separately, The Florida Press reported Nov. 10 that a proposed mine next to the EAA Reservoir faces a Dec. 1 deadline. That is context around development near the restoration project, not an item identified on today’s SFWMD agenda. The Florida Press report describes the deadline and the district’s questions about the proposal.
What to check when the meeting ends
For the pump station, the practical questions are whether the board adopts Resolution No. 2026-1110, whether the contract amount or terms change, and what vote the board records. Until the district posts an action summary, minutes, or other official record confirming its decision, the contract should be described as proposed, not awarded.
The SFWMD meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach. The district’s meeting and agenda materials are the primary sources to check for the board’s recorded action. Today’s decision could mark another step toward the Everglades Reservoir’s accelerated timeline, but only if the board votes to authorize the contract.
