8
were evacuated to higher ground. In West Palm Beach, the National Guard was
called out and President Harry Truman declared Florida in a state of emergency.
Especially destructive was the surge of water pouring into Lake Okeechobee from
the Kissimmee River Valley, since the lake was already full and the water had just
one place to go: southward toward Fort Lauderdale and Miami through already
swollen canals. In the space of just 25 days, two hurricanes and a tropical disturbance dumped more water on a saturated area. When the rains finally ceased, 90%
of southeastern Florida, from Orlando to the Keys, was literally underwater. Over
20,200 km
2
of water stretched from Lake Okeechobee across the Everglades and the
Big Cypress Swamp southward through Broward and Dade counties, resembling an
inland sea (Light et al. 1995). The total damage of this event was estimated by the
Corps to be over $60,000,000 (Blake 1980).
Following the disastrous Great Flood of 1947, the problems of this area came to a
climax and the government finally realized the current drainage protocols were not
working. This flood, coupled with the experiences of the drought in 1945 and the
intrusion of contaminating saltwater into potable and irrigational well water, made it
imperative that corrective action had to take place immediately in order to prevent
further loss of life, end excessive property damage, and to responsibly conserve water
for beneficial uses during periods of drought. Therefore, in the wake of these catastrophes, a comprehensive plan for flood control and water conservation, which would
encompass the entire Everglades and south Florida region, was put forth, thus starting
the Everglades restoration movement in the interest of flood protection, drainage, and
water control (Davis et al. 1994; Light and Dineen 1994; Light et al. 1995, 1989).
The following comments and discussion explores different components of the
Everglades and the various projects under the guise of ‘restoring’ this ecosystem
back to a resemblance of its former self. Will human action today be able to correct
what took such a short amount of time to destroy? That is the question. The discussion section thus offers an injection of common sense when trying to answer that
question and, possibly for the first time in the quest for atonement, presents a realistic solution to the possibility of “restoring” the Everglades.
1.2 Florida Everglades: Before and After Anthropogenic
Alteration
The Everglades once covered almost 28,500 km
2
of southern Florida. Just a century
and a half ago, water flowed down the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee,
then south through the Everglades marsh to the tidal flats of Florida Bay (Fig. 1.2),
which was the final destination of the pure sheet flow (McVoy et al. 2011). Dubbed
the ‘River of Grass’ (Douglas 1947) for the sawgrass that flourished throughout the
marsh, the Everglades was a mosaic of freshwater ponds, prairies, and forested
uplands that supported a rich plant and wildlife community (Davis et al. 1994;
Douglas 1997). Known throughout the world for its abundant bird life, the
C.W. Finkl and C. Makowski
were evacuated to higher ground. In West Palm Beach, the National Guard was
called out and President Harry Truman declared Florida in a state of emergency.
Especially destructive was the surge of water pouring into Lake Okeechobee from
the Kissimmee River Valley, since the lake was already full and the water had just
one place to go: southward toward Fort Lauderdale and Miami through already
swollen canals. In the space of just 25 days, two hurricanes and a tropical disturbance dumped more water on a saturated area. When the rains finally ceased, 90%
of southeastern Florida, from Orlando to the Keys, was literally underwater. Over
20,200 km
2
of water stretched from Lake Okeechobee across the Everglades and the
Big Cypress Swamp southward through Broward and Dade counties, resembling an
inland sea (Light et al. 1995). The total damage of this event was estimated by the
Corps to be over $60,000,000 (Blake 1980).
Following the disastrous Great Flood of 1947, the problems of this area came to a
climax and the government finally realized the current drainage protocols were not
working. This flood, coupled with the experiences of the drought in 1945 and the
intrusion of contaminating saltwater into potable and irrigational well water, made it
imperative that corrective action had to take place immediately in order to prevent
further loss of life, end excessive property damage, and to responsibly conserve water
for beneficial uses during periods of drought. Therefore, in the wake of these catastrophes, a comprehensive plan for flood control and water conservation, which would
encompass the entire Everglades and south Florida region, was put forth, thus starting
the Everglades restoration movement in the interest of flood protection, drainage, and
water control (Davis et al. 1994; Light and Dineen 1994; Light et al. 1995, 1989).
The following comments and discussion explores different components of the
Everglades and the various projects under the guise of ‘restoring’ this ecosystem
back to a resemblance of its former self. Will human action today be able to correct
what took such a short amount of time to destroy? That is the question. The discussion section thus offers an injection of common sense when trying to answer that
question and, possibly for the first time in the quest for atonement, presents a realistic solution to the possibility of “restoring” the Everglades.
1.2 Florida Everglades: Before and After Anthropogenic
Alteration
The Everglades once covered almost 28,500 km
2
of southern Florida. Just a century
and a half ago, water flowed down the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee,
then south through the Everglades marsh to the tidal flats of Florida Bay (Fig. 1.2),
which was the final destination of the pure sheet flow (McVoy et al. 2011). Dubbed
the ‘River of Grass’ (Douglas 1947) for the sawgrass that flourished throughout the
marsh, the Everglades was a mosaic of freshwater ponds, prairies, and forested
uplands that supported a rich plant and wildlife community (Davis et al. 1994;
Douglas 1997). Known throughout the world for its abundant bird life, the
C.W. Finkl and C. Makowski