Revived Palm Beach County reservoir making progress - Sun Sentinel

This reservoir would help solve the water storage problem water managers talk about being at the heart of south Florida's water supply issues. The first one will address the long identified need to direct more water south toward the Everglades. Click title for link.

Project backers contend that the area's unique geology — less porous than South Florida's usual below-ground limestone — makes it ideal for holding water.
The reservoir, which cost the South Florida Water Management District about $220 million, stretches for 2.8 miles north of Southern Boulevard and is nearly 1 mile wide.
It's 53-feet-deep and capable of holding 15 billion gallons of water. That's enough to cover 34,000 football fields with water one-foot deep, according to the water management district.
The reservoir was originally built to collect water that would be used to replenish the Loxahatchee River, to compensate for freshwater flows blocked though the years due to flood control for South Florida's development.

A second reservoir is being looked at to help with drinking water supplies to Broward and Palm Beach Counties. It could lessen the importance of Lake Okeechobee as a drinking water source too. The idea must be worth looking at since Drew Martin thinks it's a bad idea.

 But environmental advocates question the need for a second reservoir, especially when the first one has yet to work as planned. They contend that water conservation should be South Florida's focus and that the high cost of building a second reservoir could further delay Everglades restoration efforts.
"It would take money away from Everglades restoration [and] also raise rates for water users," said Drew Martin of the Sierra Club, who considers the project a waste of public money.