Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cattle ranchers and sugar growers, attracted by mucky waters and Florida's subtropic-
al climate (paradise for sugarcane), successfully pressured the government to make land
available to them. In 1905, Florida governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward personally dug
the first shovelful of a diversion that connected the Caloosahatchee River to Lake
Okeechobee. Hundreds of canals were cut through the Everglades to the coastline to 're-
claim' the land, and the flow of lake water was restricted by a series of dikes. Farmland
began to claim areas previously uninhabited by humans.
Unfortunately, the whole 'River of Grass' needs the river to survive. And besides being a
pretty place to watch the birds, the Everglades acts as a hurricane barrier and kidney.
Kidney? Yup: all those wetlands leeched out pollutants from the Florida Aquifer (the
state's freshwater supply). But when farmland wasn't diverting the sheet flow, it was
adding fertilizer-rich wastewater to it. Result? A very sweaty (and well-attended) biologic-
al orgy. Bacteria, and eventually plant life, bloomed at a ridiculous rate (they call it fertil-
izer for a reason), upsetting the fragile balance of resources vital to the Glades' survival.
Enter Marjory Stoneman Douglas, stage left. Ms Douglas gets the credit for almost
single-handedly pushing the now age-old Florida issue of Everglades conservation.
Despite the tireless efforts of Douglas and other environmentalists, today the Florida
Aquifer is in serious danger of being contaminated and drying up. In 2011, the water level
in Okeechobee was almost 2.7 inches below normal level. The number of wading birds
nesting has declined by 90% to 95% since the 1930s. Currently, there are 67 threatened
and endangered plant and animal species in the park.
The diversion of water away from the Glades and run-off pollution are the main culprits
behind the region's environmental degradation. This delicate ecosystem is the neighbor
of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the US. The current water-drainage system in
South Florida was built to handle the needs of two million people; the local population
topped six million in 2010. And while Miami can't grow north or south into Fort Lauder-
dale or Homestead, it can move west, directly into the Everglades. At this stage, scientists
estimate the wetlands have been reduced by 50% to 75% of their original size.
Humans are not the only enemy of the Everglades. Nature has done its share of dam-
age as well. During 2005's Hurricane Wilma, for example, six storm-water treatment
areas (artificial wetlands that cleanse excess nutrients out of the water cycle) were
lashed and heavily damaged by powerful winds. Without these natural filtration systems,
the Glades are far more susceptible to nutrient blooms and external pollution. In 2011,
wildfires caused by drought incinerated huge patches of land near the Tamiami Trail.
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