Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the state has finished the Crane Creek/M-1 Canal Flow Restoration Project in Melbourne, Brevard County, marking a new milestone in efforts to improve water quality in the Indian River Lagoon and nearby waterways. Built more than a century ago, the M-1 Canal altered natural flows between the St. Johns River and the Indian River Lagoon, allowing storm-water runoff from roughly 5,300 acres to carry nutrients that fueled algae blooms. The restoration added a weir, pump stations, a pipeline and a storm-water treatment area to redirect water westward to the river basin and filter pollutants before discharge. State engineers estimate the project will send 2.5 billion gallons of water a year through treatment, stripping out about 24,000 pounds of nitrogen and 3,100 pounds of phosphorus, while supplying up to 7 million gallons of freshwater daily downstream. DeSantis said Florida has allocated roughly $3.3 billion to more than 1,000 water initiatives since 2019 and plans to invest another $460 million for water-quality work in the 2025-26 budget.