At a rainy news conference off the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the groundbreaking of the first Everglades restoration project the state is taking over from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The project, known as the Blue Shanty Flow Way, will remove 10 miles of berm along the Tamiami Trail and allow massive amounts of water to flow south into Everglades National Park and eventually Florida Bay, said Drew Bartlett, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

The groundbreaking marks the first project in an agreement between the state of Florida and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which allows the state to take over construction of several of the most crucial projects in the $26 billion Comprehensive Everglades Restorat

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