Southland Water Resource Project

approved by palm beach county commissioners, pending environmental resource permit and further approvals

The Southland Water Resource project involves mining about 6,000 acres of privately owned sugarcane land in Palm Beach County to extract rock for sale. The remaining excavation will be used as a reservoir to store overflow water from Lake Okeechobee, which is typically discharged into estuaries causing ecological harm. The reservoir excavation will be about 6 feet below sea level and occur in phases over up to 59 years, with the first water storage expected within five years. The project aims to provide water storage and generate revenue from rock sales, with operation and management to be handled by the South Florida Water Management District or other entities after completion of each phase.