Lake Okeechobee Disaster

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.

The everglades is a place where nature is free in it’s paradise, besides the fact that there are hundreds of issues. The Everglades is home to many types of wildlife, and also provides for humans. The water supply has dramatically affected everyone, and everything, not all of it good. Water issues have affected the Everglades, and Florida by decreasing wildlife, droughts, and money issues.

A concrete network of canals was designed to bring water from the lake area to surrounding farmland in the dry season. Florida was becoming a booming area and more people came and more acres of the Everglades were cleared for farms, ranches, housing, roads, and railways. And more and more; the Everglades were dying (Miami Museum of Science, 1995).

Lake Lanier is a large reservoir that serves many purposes including the following: flood control, power generation, recreation, water supply, and water storage. The US Army Corps of Engineers allowed Georgia to withdraw water from Lake Lanier. However, Alabama and Florida filed a lawsuit against the Corps due to the fact that Georgia was withdrawing water from Lake Lanier which decreased the downstream levels. In the 2009 ruling, Georgia as increased their withdraw amount to the point exceeding WSA which affected the hydropower generation. In the 11th circuit Appeal, Georgians were given hope in an increase in withdraws from Lake Lanier, but in the end, the Corps repudiated Georgia’s request. However, there was a problem with the law so the Corps is reevaluating Georgia’s request. Georgia has responsibility issues between water storage and hydropower generation. Alabama, Florida, and Georgia will wait for the Corps decision on the case before they do anything else.

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

According to the text, on page 117, paragraph 7, is states, “The project cost for the project is about $1 billion.” As continued on page 117, Florida state leaders believe that the government should help to finance the project. On page 118, the text states, “...a bill that would invest $880 million in state money and restore water quality in the Everglades.” As said on page 118, the Obama Administration, and the sugar industry were able to invest that money for the Everglades. The restoration of the Everglades had been delayed due to the cost, and the quality of the water. Luckily, the Obama Administration and the sugar industry fixed that

Although drinking water is not yet known to have been affected, the groundwater was contaminated with volatile organic compounds and heavy metals (5). Both of these types of contaminants have been linked with one or several of the following: cancer, liver, kidney, and nervous system problems (4). In July 1979, the State Court required that all material be removed from the site by July 1980 (5). The state has spent over $300,000 cleaning this site (5). According to EPA standards, this site is in the "construction completed" stage of clean up. This does not mean, however that actual cleanup is complete because groundwater may need to be treated more than 30 years before contaminants are at accepted levels (5).

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 history of the Everglades is a story that hasn’t been romanticized. Before early settlers the land was flourishing, for the tribes that had resided there had no intention of changing the habitat. In the article “Past and Present: The Florida Everglades” it says, “The wetlands were once home to many rare, endangered, exotic species, however, this is no longer the case…” This information shows what the tribes didn’t want to do, but what the settlers ended up causing. The settlers that come from the outside land wanted to drain the Everglades by making manmade canals. They did this because they wanted to farm on the land where the Everglades were. The result of the settlers canals

I researched the Everglades in Florida. There have been many negative changes in this habitat both from humans and other species. The region’s water resources are being depleted by invasions of exotic plants such as the Australian Melaluca. The Australian Melaluca also affected the native species of which the rest of the ecosystem depends. Another effect on the water is the runoff from agricultural operations, which gets into the water and pollutes it. Development pressures from agriculture, industry, and urban areas have destroyed more than half of the original Everglades

In 1923-1947 Arkansas Power and Light (AP&L) constructed several dams on two Arkansas lakes, Hamilton and Catherine. AP & L obtained “flood easements” on property adjoining the lakes. AP&L sold lake side property and kept the easement in force. These flood easements permitted AP&L to “clear of trees, brush, and other obstruction and to submerge by

There used to be a thriving area full of lush plants and exotic animals along with many miles of water flowing through central Florida called the Everglades. A lot of water was drained for development and farming, leaving a queer 50% of the wetlands remaining. Many of the beautiful organisms dissipated due to the water purge. The U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are trying to restore the national park's water system, hopefully bringing back its diverse ecosystem.

In a similar case, the issue of the Water Transfers Rule (added in 2008) was reviewed. According to the Washington University Journal of Law and Policy (2011), in 2009, the Eleventh Circuit in Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District upheld the Water Transfers Rule, which states that transferring water between waters of the United States does not require a NPDES permit unless that water introduces pollutants into the accepting body. In Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District, the court ruled that the transfer of water from drainage canals into Lake Okeechobee, Florida, the second largest freshwater lake in the United States, which was used for drinking water was not under the authority

The university of Florida campus located in Gainesville, Florida is divided into several subbasins that directly drain their rainfall runoff to four different watersheds: Lake Alice, Hogtown Creek, Tumblin Creek and other depression basins. To distribute the rainfall runoff to their respective watersheds, a very extensive storm drainage system functions within campus. Therefore, it is very important that the storm drainage system performs efficiently (Florida, 2015). However, personnel from the University of Florida Physical Division Plant mentioned that some locations within sub-basin LA-2A floods during rainfall events due to incorrect pipe sizes within the system. Therefore, the purpose of this research is To Suggest a Method of