The Changing Everglades

Image of Drought conditions in 2006 and 2007 led to record low water levels in Lake Okeechobee. This presented Florida Department of Environmental Protection and South Florida Water Management District with a unique opportunity to remove a foot of accumulated muck and organic material from 1,300 acres of the lake's bottom. More than 1.5 million cubic yards of muck was removed, exposing the lakes natural sandy bottom and providing the opportunity for native plant communities to flourish.

Drought conditions in 2006 and 2007 led to record low water levels in Lake Okeechobee. This presented Florida Department of Environmental Protection and South Florida Water Management District with a unique opportunity to remove a foot of accumulated muck and organic material from 1,300 acres of the lake's bottom. More than 1.5 million cubic yards of muck was removed, exposing the lakes natural sandy bottom and providing the opportunity for native plant communities to flourish. © DEP/ Greg Kennedy

Video Transcript

Narrator: The Everglades was born well after the last ice age when sea levels had stabilized roughly five thousand years ago. As mangrove coastlines, hardwood forests and Cyprus swamps began to develop in Florida. An enormous sheet of gin clear water covered the lower half of the state. Slowly running south to nourish the estuaries that supported a dynamic ocean wonderland. Up to the beginning of the last century the natural watercourse thrived. But as industrialized settlers poured into Florida they transformed the environment. The desire for farm land, timber and land for development fueled a nonstop succession of drainages canales exposing millions of acres of previously flooded land for development. Killer hurricanes spawned further outcry for protection from floods and the growing costal populace needed a dependable supply of water. In less then fifty years, over half of the original everglades would be permanently lost.

The Changing Everglades

Video Transcript

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