Everglades National Park: The Importance Of Water

The Florida Everglades is a region of tropical wetlands in south Florida. It consists of the southern half of the state, ranging from the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, and the Everglades. This watershed is referred to as the KOE. Water in south Florida once flowed from the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee, then flowed southward over low-lying lands to Biscayne Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, and Florida Bay. This shallow, slow-moving sheet of water created a mosaic of ponds, marshes, and forests. Over thousands of years this developed into the balanced ecosystem we know today as the Florida Everglades. In the later half of the 19th century, America was expanding and there was a nation wide push for progress. The idea for expansion led

First and foremost, a main reason why the water supply to the everglades is having a bad effect, is because of all of the past draining. As stated in source 1 (The Florida Everglades) it says “From 1905-1910 , the settlers coverted the land… the Everglades were nearly drained entirely.” This shows that these new settlers wanted to get rid of the Everglades completely. As a result to their actions the Florida lost 50% of the wildlife’s population and diversity. This also included the subtropical wilderness of the Everglades. Which contained grassy marshes, hardwood hammocks, and mangrove forests. The draining of the Everglades was only one of the reasons why that the water supply on the park is bad.

Nearly as large as the state of New Jersey, the Everglades used to measure about 6,000 square miles (Bucks, 1998). The Everglades was a complex wetland consisting of a mosaic of ecosystems. The heart of the Everglades was a slow moving body of water with a span of one hundred twenty miles long and forty miles wide with an average depth of six inches to two feet of water (Lauber,1973). This broad shallow, often called the "river of grass," was covered in a blanket of saw grass (not actually a grass but a sedge) that slowly drained the water from its main source, Lake Okeechobee, all the way to the southernmost tip of the state and into the Florida Bay. Shaped much like a saucer, when full Lake Okeechobee would send its overflow spilling into the shallows of the Everglades river. This natural filling process, along with the wet season's rains, is what fed the flow of the Everglades and the underlying aquifers for centuries.

Due to constantly changing water levels, ecosystems like the Everglades can be very unpredictable places. Since the 1800s, people have tried to control the Everglades to prevent flooding (Blake). Large canals were built to send the water into the ocean and away from the Everglades. The land along the canals dried up and became more

The Everglades can be fixed it may take time and effort but it can be done.In "Are the Everglades Forever?" They state that "Every year, the Everglades lose some of their water to the coast simply by draining from the wetlands to the sea. The water loss is more than the ecosystem can keep up with..." And with the shortage of water in the Everglades means people that live off of the water in the Everglades with suffer a shortage of water as well. In article 1 they say that " CERP will restore a lot of the water by opening up unused dams and filling in old canals to help redirect water flow back to the wetlands." Plants and animals have resilience or the ability to recover from harm. Stated in "Are the Everglades Forever". If people work hard enough we can change the Everglades back to what it used to

The Florida Everglades are a great representation of a wild Florida. The park is a place full of wildlife, and rich with history. Even though there are many problems, and many failed attempts to save the Everglades, the place itself is still very historic. Native American Tribes and settlement, history and wildlife, have all been a key part in the Everglades today.

To begin with, we have had a rocky history involving the Everglades water supply. We are now trying to recover from the past. For example, in the text, “The Past and the Present,” it states, “The construction and population increase in Everglades upset it’s fragile ecosystem, and cut off the flow of fresh water to the Everglades.” As a result, it’s quantity and diversity decreased by 50%. Although many people did try to save the Everglades, it wasn’t until the year 1934 when Congress passed the law and the park was officially opened. Now people from all over the U.S can enjoy the park!

The Everglades mainly found in the United States of America (USA) is a 2 million acre of wetland ecosystem that stretches from the Central of Florida near to Orlando to the Bay of Florida in the south. During rainy seasons, Lake Okeechobee experience upsurge in water volumes causing it to discharge the waters into the “river of grass” that characterize with shallow slow moving water carrying grass marshes. The river flows south and passing through different habitats namely wet prairie, cypress swamps, mangroves, Everglades National Park and lastly into the Florida Bay. The current size of the Everglades is smaller than it was originally. The decrease in size has majorly been due to human activities that include diversions of the water for agriculture and flood control as well as urban development. The Everglades borders the cities of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. The region is tourist attraction for birders, boaters, and anglers among others. The Everglades ecosystem supports agricultural activities besides supplying clean drinking water to the southern Florida residents. Just like other natural ecosystems like lakes and forests, the Everglades is facing dangers of global warming. The increasing global temperatures are causing a significant change and destruction of its iconic natural appearance. Besides the direct effects, global warming is

The Everglades, also known as the river of Grass, is one of South Florida’s most treasured areas. This wetland is home to many animals like alligators, crocodiles and the Florida panther. The everglades also acts as a giant filter. The Everglades provides the residents of South Florida with water, jobs and tourist attractions. Unfortunately, we are just now realizing the importance of this ecosystem.

Some popular national in Florida include the Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Park and Dry Tortugas National Park. All three parks offer a myriad of outdoor activities and expose visitors to an abundance of wildlife. The everglades National park west of Miami offers visitors activities such as hiking, canoeing, biking, boat tours and tram tours. The park is a World Heritage Site, a International Biosphere Reserve and a Wetland of National Importance. Additionally, the park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the country. The habitat is a home for a number of rare or endangered animals, such as the Florida panther, manatees and the American alligator.

The Everglades is a vast region that stretches from the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee and is filled with a unique and world-famous ecosystem that is exclusive to the rest of the world. It is located in southern Florida and takes up 1.5 million of the land. While there are many diverse species, there are around 500 human inhabitants. This region is one of the largest wetlands in the US and the only existing Everglades in the entire world. Because of this and other pressing factors, about one-fifth of the Everglades are protected by the Everglades National Park. The fact that the Everglades are one of kind also means that anything that happens not only affects itself locally, but also nationally and globally. And now, there are many problems

When the settlers came they decided to drain the land for farming. “The U.S. Army corps of Engineers and government officals authorized the digging of canals, the creation of water storage facilities, and regulation of the flow of water.” as stated in source 1 the Florida Everglades. Because of this the Everglades is nearly drained compleatly. ALso to add to the problem almost all the remaining water was and still is runied by the sugarcane farmers. When the crop is harvisted the fertilizer used on the plants to make them grow better poisons the water with chemicals like nitrogen and phosphorus damiging the water supply (source 2 can we fix the water supply?). This makes the water imposible to drink and is killing off alot of the Everglades natural

Growing up I was fortunate to live five miles from the main entrance to the largest subtropical, sawgrass prairie in North America, Everglades National Park. For years, the Everglades revealed its natural treasures as my family and I enjoyed hours of canoeing, hiking, fishing, and bird watching within the park. I had the privilege to attend an elementary school that established a partnership with the Everglades Environmental Center. In fact, in 4th grade I was one of twenty-five students selected to go camping five nights at the Loop Road Interpretive Center, forty miles deep in the glades. My camping experience provided an invaluable lesson about always being honest and the importance of obeying the national park regulations.

To begin, the history of the Everglades had many problems with the water supply. There used to be Indian tribes that lived near the Everglades and the Everglades was not affected. When the settlers from outside of Florida arrived, that changed. They wanted to drain the Everglades and they did. According to Tobey Haskell, “The streams were dredged, and the Everglades was nearly drained entirely.” The draining of the Everglades meant affected and less water supply and that meant less wildlife. The water supply was affected so much that 50% of the Everglades no longer exists.

The next activity consisted of taking an airboat ride through the Everglades. During this activity, we collected water samples using different types of chemicals