The Everglades gets a lot of its water from rainfall (somewhere around 60 inches per year on average). When it starts raining over south Florida, it rains everywhere including on our largest lake, Lake Okeechobee . This is the start of the most indirect way for water to flow into the Everglades.
Is the Everglades a healthy ecosystem?
Florida’s southernmost alligators are too skinny based on a new report card and interactive website on the Everglades’ ecosystem health. Reported from May 2012 through April 2017 on a 1 to 100 scale, the Everglades scored a 45, which is considered “fair” but “concerning”. ...
Does the Everglades provide drinking water?
For example, the Everglades ecosystem provides drinking water for one-third of Floridians and irrigation for much of the state’s agriculture. The wetlands improve water quality by filtering out pollutants and absorbing excess nutrients, replenish aquifers, and reduce flooding.
Why is the water so high in the Everglades?
The Everglades as we know it has been compartmentalized. It was re-engineered to contain and move water between its now separated basins using levees, canals, locks and pumps. The only places that water levels can rise to more than three feet are those where people have intervened to contain water .
How much of the Everglades is water?
Since 1900 much of the Everglades has been drained for agriculture and urban development, so that today only 50 percent of the origi- nal wetlands remain. Water levels and patterns of water flow are largely controlled by an extensive system of levees and canals.
What are some problems in the Everglades?
- loss of the natural communities of algae that are defining characteristics of the Everglades.
- loss of water dissolved oxygen that fish need.
- changes in the native plant communities that result in a loss of the open water areas where wading birds feed.
Do people live in the Everglades?
Although known for its vast natural landscapes, the Everglades have been home and hunting grounds for many people and groups . Learn more about the people that have lived and worked in the Everglades. ... Seminole Indians south of the Tamiami Trail.
What is the ultimate goal of restoring the Everglades?
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is a multibillion dollar project authorized by Congress in the year 2000. This plan aspires to increase freshwater storage, improve water quality, and re-establish the natural water flow through the greater Everglades ecosystem .
Why is Everglades special?
The Everglades is a unique treasure found in South Florida. The Everglades is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the United States. It consists of 1.5 million acres of saw grass marshes, mangrove forests, and hardwood hammocks dominated by wetlands. It is home to endangered, rare, and exotic wildlife .
What would happen if the Everglades disappeared?
Without the Everglades as a buffer to hurricanes and as a source of drinking water, it’s the people living in South Florida who risk becoming the endangered species. ... And if rising seas turn more of the freshwater Everglades salty, then the water seeping into aquifers threatens to foul our inland drinking water wells.
How deep is the water in Everglades?
The water in the Everglades is only on average around 4 to 5 feet deep and the deepest point is around 9 feet.
What happened to the water in the Everglades?
Water was rerouted by a series of pumps, canals, levees, and other structures . 50% of its original wetlands were lost. The water that used to fill the lake and overflow the southern lip is now sent out to sea along the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Canals, while the southern Everglades is starved for freshwater.
What is the water like in the Everglades?
Because of changes in water flow, the Everglades doesn’t receive the fresh water that it needs. Plants and wildlife depend on that water, and so do we. The River of Grass provides the drinking water for South Florida. Altogether, the Everglades ecosystem supplies the drinking water for eight million Floridians.
What are the biggest threats to the Everglades?
- Fire/ Fire Suppression. ...
- Housing/ Urban Areas. ...
- (Road kills and road noise) ...
- Habitat Shifting/ Alteration. ...
- Agricultural effluents. ...
- (Flood control and water supply) ...
- (Invasive species) ...
- Water Pollution.
How are humans destroying the Everglades?
Urban development, industry, and agriculture pressures have destroyed more than half of the original Everglades . Ever-increasing population growth along with industry in south Florida has resulted in large metropolitan areas and rising pressures on the surrounding natural environments.
Is the Everglades dying?
But it is slowly disappearing , and has been for more than a century. Today, the Everglades is about the size of New Jersey — half the size it once was. Much of the damage has been caused by humans through water diversion, population pressures, and agricultural run-off.
