A reservoir the size of Naples is coming to Hendry County to help Florida’s water woes

What used to be a citrus grove will one day be a massive reservoir.

The goal is to keep water cleaner and with less blue-green algae.

Between too much water in the wet season and not enough in the dry season, Southwest Florida is no stranger to water woes.

The C-43 Reservoir project is happening in Hendry County. Part of the solution will come from the more than 10,000-acre C-43 reservoir. The reservoir will be about the size of the City of Naples. It’s expected to be completed in 2023 but will start taking wet season flows in 2024.

The price tag for the project is $1 billion, which will come from both state and federal funds.

“The C-43 reservoir is supposed to catch the wet season flows from Lake Okeechobee and the basin and C-43, store them and then discharge them back to the river in the dry season,” said Shawn Waldeck, site manager at the C-43 reservoir project.