One of the largest projects in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan is currently under construction and on schedule for completion by the end of 2023. The 170,000-acre-ft West Basin Storage Reservoir is taking form on the south bank of the Caloosahatchee River in Hendry County, about five miles southwest of LaBelle, Fla. At completion, its total cost is expected to be $640 million.
The completed reservoir will capture excess stormwater runoff from the C-43 basin and contaminated water discharged from Lake Okeechobee. The impounded water will be used to irrigate adjacent agricultural areas or will be released to the river in a fashion that will maintain proper salinity levels in the Caloosahatchee Estuary.