Biology and ecology concepts

Everglades and the Problem of Water Management

The Everglades is a unique ecosystem and there is no other like it in the world. The Everglades are the source and security of the fresh water that enables people to live and do business in South Florida. It is the source of drinking water for the area's five million people, and sustains a productive agricultural industry. Over the past century, the Everglades have been severely harmed by the growth in human population.

Water management is one of the most severe environmental issues facing the Everglades today. The Everglades' watershed starts in the Kissimmee River basin north of Lake Okeechobee.

In the summertime, thunderstorms would flood this area, the large lake, and extensive areas of everglades marsh, creating created a shallow, wide river that flowed slowly south through the everglades to the Gulf of Mexico. The summer rains would then subside to a six-month dry season. The plants and animals of the Everglades adapted to this seasonal cycle of wetness and dryness.

In the entire United States, only California, New York, and Texas outstrip Florida in population these days. Approximately 900 people move to Florida every day. In addition, about 39 million people visit Florida every year from other places. Approximately 12 million of these people come during winter's dry season as the state's water supplies naturally drop. Nothing feels the pressure of this population increase more than the historic Everglades.

As a result of this population growth, the Everglades now face a serious water supply problem. The Everglades are now about half their original size of four million acres and large portions of the remaining area are degraded.

Drainage projects and development have negatively influenced the systems water quality and biodiversity. Flood control and water distribution systems for urban development have altered the quantity, timing, and distribution of water flows.

Before humans intervened, water used to move slowly from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay in a smooth flow through the Everglades. Along this path, the naturally filtered water would simply recharge the Biscayne Aquifer, supply nutrients to vegetation, maintain a supply of fresh water for animals, reduce the risk of fire, maintain surface and ground water levels reducing salt water intrusion and maintain the food chain.

However, humans have destroyed the way the Everglades operate. Over the past century, people have developed and implemented a system of dikes, canals, levees, floodgates, and pumps which transport water to agricultural lands, then to urban areas, and finally to Everglades National Park. These alterations have disturbed the alternating wet and dry seasons that many animals are used to, resulting in the endangerment of many of the Everglades' animals.

The first water management activities of humans were designed to drain the Everglades and exploit the natural resources of rich soils and tropical climate for agricultural development. Years later, the canal system was improved for navigational use to move products to coastal markets. Humans created canals, pump stations, and structures to provide water supply to coastal areas, and flood protection for agricultural development. Over the years, management priorities of this system have evolved, with an emphasis on flood control during hurricane years, water supply during droughts and, more recently, environmental protection of Everglades' natural resources.