History Bears Repeating
The Everglades comprise the largest subtropical wetland ecosystem in North America and is recognized as one of the most important on the planet. It is a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve.
A vast watershed that historically extended from the Upper Kissimmee chain of lakes, through Lake Okeechobee and south to Florida Bay the Everglades watershed refers to the interconnected ecosystems of water, land, and climate spanning nearly 18,000 square miles.
The Public's Successes
The Everglades has been butchered, drained, diked, and polluted – but it is still alive. Saving this remarkable place is doable, though time is running out and the clock is ticking faster. This incredibly unique ecosystem is the nexus of our water-based tourism economy, the economics this great system generates and makes possible exceed anything else in Florida.
Bring on Restoration
For about the past 7000 years, rain has fallen on the Kissimmee basin, and flowed south into Lake Okeechobee. Humans have changed the timing of inflows, and maybe increased the volume a bit, and agriculture has certainly polluted that water, but it flows more or less the same today.
But south of Lake Okeechobee, nothing works at all like it did. Water used to flow south to the Everglades from Lake Okeechobee, while today, not nearly enough does. Instead of being supplied by Lake O, the sugar industry takes that water. The EAA is now the largest source of water for the Everglades, and it’s polluted.
