Future of the Everglades

What Does the Future Look Like for the Ecosystem?

Currently the only place suitable for wildlife is the Everglades National Park at the very tip of Florida’s south bay. If the state does not solve the water flow problem, this park may not remain in such condition. Currently, most of the bad-quality drainage flows into the park, and the lack of natural freshwater delivery throughout the year due to the disrupting of natural rivers by urban development and agricultural levies and canals, it also goes through dry seasons which have disturbed the marshland habitats. The American Recovery and Reinvestment act, if implemented, will help divert water flow back to the undeveloped areas of the Everglades. Eventually agriculture will be unsustainable in the area because of depletion of pleat soil. Pleat soil is the layer of soil over the limestone that naturally forms when the land is un-drained and uncultivated. The draining and cultivation of the land has shrunk this layer of soil thin. In the future it is unlike that agriculture will be possible because of the depletion of soil. The drainage also caused a decrease in the flow of the Kissimmee River, so that at times, it was separate pools of grass, which caused drought and subsequently fires in an ecosystem not adapted to wildfire. Hopefully with the implementation of CERP in 2000 and the increased awareness of the problem, we will continue to see improvement in maintaining the remaining Everglades ecosystem as well as repairing some of the natural systems, such as freshwater flow and species diversity.



How Can the Conservation Status of the Everglades Be Improved?

The most effective current plan for restoration of the Everglades is the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, CERP, which is designed to restore natural water flow to the environment, reduce harmful land and agricultural development and improve water quality. The implementation of wetland water treatment areas will help restore water quality. Under the plan the state is building storm water treatment areas to remove phosphorous from the water and create healthier man-made wetlands to replace ones that have been destroyed.

The Everglades loses about 1.7 million gallons of water to drainage per year, and the rest flows unused into the ocean. The hope is to recover that water and redistribute it to the land most in need for environmental restoration, as well as filter some into underground storage for crops. Re-establishing the natural flow of freshwater from Lake Okeechobee is the ultimate goal, though the pattern will not be the same due to developed urban land. Florida also hopes to remove almost 240 miles of canals and levies in order to do this. One of the other biggest problems has been the over-cultivation of the land for products like sugarcane. Solutions like intercropping and decreasing the use of herbicides and pesticides could help preserve remaining parts of this ecosystem; though according to the National Wildlife Federation, the Everglades will never be the same as it was pre-drainage because 50% of the land has been permanently lost to urban and agricultural development.