Everglades 'River of Grass' to Flow Free Again

Farmland south of Lake Okeechobee has blocked the natural flow of water into the Everglades for the past 50 years.

Environmental groups expressed delight over the decision by the state of Florida to buy 300 square miles (800 square km) of farmland to restore a large part of the Everglades wetlands.

The plan will pay the firm United States Sugar $1.7 billion for the land, which will allow the shallow “river of grass” to flow unimpeded from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay at the southern tip of the Sunshine State.

Cane fields have cut off the natural flow of fresh waters from the lakes in central Florida to the open sea for more than 50 years.

Besides helping to restore the habitat of many species across the Everglades, the project should also capture vast quantities of rain water in a watershed that once kept most of South Florida perennially lush.

State natural resource planners hope this will help quench the thirst of South Florida subdivisions that have expanded to the edge of the wetlands in recent decades.

Depleted aquifers from Everglades blockages have caused a chronic water shortage from metropolitan Miami, northward to past West Palm Beach.

Photo: NASA MODIS Rapid Response System
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