Journal Entry 4
Of course, one cannot discuss The Everglades without exploring its most vital ingredient: WATER. Extensive research has been done on the impacts of water flow – or really the lack thereof – and I am certain that I will not be able to fit all the information I have found within the confines of these journal entries. For the sake of saving precious space in my journal for my real world encounters, I will keep my notes on water flow as concise as possible.
Before mankind trudged their way through the river of grass, water flowed down through the Kissimmee River through Lake Okeechobee all the way down to Florida Bay.
Image taken from CERP Plan’s NPS page
In the early 1900s, mankind drained The Everglades. We thought that we were more powerful than the earth. I’m worried we may still feel that way. We altered the water flow in The Everglades to make room for canals, levees, and pumps. We lost about 50% of the original wetlands. Instead of leaving this beautiful landscape untouched, we attempted to claim it with our agriculture and watercrafts.
The result of our attempted overtaking has been, dare I say, catastrophic. We have deprived Florida Bay of the natural flow of freshwater it would have had by dredging up canals and attempting to control the movement of water through the state. These changes have had countless consequences including increased saltwater intrusion, more invasives (Brazilian pepper and Old World Climbing Fern were mentioned), and the worst: a massive fish and seagrass die off in the 1980s. There were also repercussions to humans too! The Everglades provide drinking water to the entirety of Southern Florida, so lack of water to “The Glades” also means lack of water for us!
It was not until the mass die-out in the 80s that we began to come to our senses. Unfortunately it took a huge fish and seagrass die off for us to start to make a change, but it gives me some consolation that at the very least we have been attempting to fix our very grave mistake. This movement began small, but quickly grew into what is now known as CERP, The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. This plan, when completed, will send water back down to The Everglades from the Northern areas of Florida, as it once did over one hundred years ago. Will this be enough to restore The Everglades to their former glory? Is the damage we have done to the landscape irreversible? Only time will tell. This month has been a particularly dry one, and we are not yet into Florida’s wet season just yet. I wonder what this will mean for my expedition.
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References
https://www.npca.org/advocacy/85-restore-fresh-water-to-florida-bay-in-everglades-national-park
https://apps.sfwmd.gov/sfwmd/SFER/1999_Everglades_Interim_Report/interimrpt_98/11_chpt2.pdf
https://fl.audubon.org/sites/default/files/our_everglades_our_water_fact_sheet.pdf
http://www.parklandhistoricalsociety.com/portals/draining-the-everglades
