Water managers approved a contract Thursday for $64 million to install six massive pumps in the controversial L-8 Reservoir — a move that will finally put the 10-year-old water storage system to use and jump-start new Everglades restoration projects.

The reservoir at a rock mine on Southern Boulevard, which figured prominently in two Palm Beach County corruption scandals, has been dormant for lack of a way to get the water out of the 60-foot deep holes. The pits have not been used because the water in them contains unacceptable levels of chlorides. Without the pumps, the district cannot flush the chloride-laden water out of the pits to see if, as expected, the chloride levels drop when the pits refill.

Making the 15 billion gallon reservoir operational is included in a suite of projects in the state’s $880 million plan to improve water quality in the Everglades. The pumps should be operational in May 2013.