Everglades Is Essentially a Wide,

Everglades is essentially a wide, flat river that drains water from Lake Okeechobee in central Florida to Florida Bay in the extreme southwest of the state. The river is shallow and marked by small ponds created by alligators to provide year-round water. The flow of water is slow, taking years to make the journey to Florida Bay. In the past 100 years, the Everglades has lost approximately 50% of its area to human development for farms and suburbs (USGS Circular 1182). Canals have been established to control flooding and to provide water for irrigation.

As a river, the Florida Everglades is a water-based resource. The existence of the Everglades is solely based on the river. In past, human intervention has resulted in sections of the Everglades drying, which led to rapid soil decomposition. Thus, the value of Everglades land was essentially nil. Therefore water is not only the primary resource in the Everglades, it is the one resource without which the Everglades would not exist. There have been times when other resources were harvested from the Everglades, namely bird plumes and alligators skins, but this type of hunting activity was unsustainable and has long since been curtailed.

The river's flow is driven by a gentle slope to Florida Bay. The water covers much of the land between Lake Okeechobee and Florida Bay. It empties into the Bay via two major sloughs. The mix of fresh and saline water provides a rich environment and one of the world's longest mangrove systems. The water provides the means for a rich, unique ecosystem that supports a wide variety of species. While the Everglades is not a strong area for human habitation, the resource that the water represents is critical for South Florida.

One of the earliest uses of the Everglades as a water-based resource was for farming. Farming began in the Everglades in 1913 and by the 1920s sugarcane had been planted. Sugarcane farming remains a major industry in the Everglades. Today, there are plans to buy United States Sugar's assets, putting the firm out of business. While the firm was granted six more years of operation, the move will eventually pave the way for the restoration of the full extent of the Everglades' flow (Cave, 2008). There are numerous legal challenges to the deal and a revised deal in November 2008 was somewhat weaker, but ultimately the deal represents a significant change in policy with respect to the resource the Everglades represents.

There are several reasons for the shift away from viewing the Everglades as a source of irrigation water for sugar cane plantations. One is that the water in the Everglades system is essential to the health of South Florida's drinking water. Over time, human activity has disrupted the natural flow of water through the Everglades, but this has in turn reduced the cleanliness of the water. The region is subject to water shortages and restrictions, despite a hydrological cycle that brings the area double the world's average amount of rainfall (South Florida Water Management District, 2002). Moreover, the health of the water in Lake Okeechobee, the main reservoir for South Florida, is in jeopardy as a result of human intervention in the Everglades (Ibid.)

There are other agricultural uses for Everglades water. Nurseries grow for use in home gardens. Demand for their product is affected by water shortages that arise from poor management of the Everglades water. This issue is significant in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. In Palm Beach County, sugar is the main agricultural crop, dependent on the Everglades for irrigation (Frogameni, 2008).

Water from the Everglades also impacts several other industries as well. Some fishing industries rely on the Everglades to provide clean water and nutrients to estuaries and bays. The mix of salt and fresh water results in a unique ecosystem that supports a rich variety of wildlife, including commercial seafood species including shrimp and stone crabs. The economic impact of Everglades-dependent fisheries is estimated at $1 billion (Audobon, 2007). The tourism industry benefits from the stable environment to which the Everglades contribute. Fishing, bird-watching, diving and sailing in the Florida Bay account for an estimated $5.9 billion in revenues for Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties (Ibid).