Protecting Florida’s waterways isn’t just a legislative priority for me—it’s personal. From our local small businesses and coastal estuaries to the rivers where our kids swim, fish, and grow up, clean water is the lifeblood of our community.
When I first came to Congress, I made a promise that fighting toxic discharges and restoring our waterways would be my mission every single day. We’ve made incredible strides since then, but I want to make sure everyone in our community sees the tangible results we’ve delivered together.
Today, our campaign launched a new 30-second broadcast TV ad across the Palm Beach media market titled “Major Progress.”
In the spot, I take my son, Major, up in a helicopter to show him from the air what years of unrelenting pressure and hard work have accomplished right here in South Florida.
Major Victories for Our Waterways
We didn’t just talk about fixing our water problems—we wrote the bills, passed the laws, and secured the funding to get it done. Here is what we’ve accomplished so far:
- Fighting Toxic Algae head-on: I authored the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act (signed into law in 2022), requiring the first-ever federal assessment and action plan to fight harmful algal blooms in South Florida.
- Finishing the Herbert Hoover Dike: We secured full funding to accelerate the rehabilitation project, finishing the work three years early and coming in $300 million under budget.
- Fixing Lake Okeechobee Operations: I forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through legislation to rewrite their outdated lake management schedule. Under the new plan, discharges into the St. Lucie Estuary are projected to be stopped 95% of the time under normal operations—up from a miserable 37% under the old schedule.
- Fast-Tracking the EAA Reservoir: I wrote the law authorizing the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir at the federal level and secured over $2 billion to speed up construction. We pushed the finish line up by 5 full years—moving completion from 2034 to 2029.
- Delivering Record Everglades Funding: We secured a historic $461 million in federal funding for FY2026 to restore natural water flows south, elevate water quality, and protect our coastal communities.
The Mission Isn’t Finished
We aren’t taking our foot off the gas. Just recently, we passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 through the House by a 415 to 9 vote. It includes key provisions I wrote to push more clean water south, hold officials accountable for harmful discharges, and address long-standing navigation safety issues at the Jupiter Inlet.
Protecting Florida’s water has been my mission since day one, and we have major results to show for it. We’ve improved the way Lake Okeechobee is managed to reduce discharges, fought toxic algae, and accelerated completion of the EAA Reservoir. We’ve made tremendous progress, but the mission isn’t finished. As your representative in Congress, I’ll keep fighting until we achieve zero discharges ever again.
Watch the New Ad
Thank you for standing with me in this fight. Let’s keep making progress!