Historical Impact

 The Florida Everglades have suffered from human impact since the early 1800s, but the most significant impacts occurred just under a century later. The human impacts have been so bad in fact, that only 50% remains today. Residents in Florida created systems of levees and canals that would allow them to redirect the water that flowed through the everglades for agricultural and urban use. The three primary objectives were flood control, providing a water supply, and drainage of the land for agriculture. In the past, the low lying areas of the Everglades were exposed to annual flooding since most of the area doesn’t exist more than 20 feet above sea level. However, when people began to farm in the area, these floods became a significant problem. The federal government responded to this annual flooding by creating a dike that followed the southernmost end of Lake Okeechobee. This lake was a large body of water that spanned the northernmost region of the everglades and provided the fresh water that the ecosystem relied on. Once this dike was created, most flooding was immediately prevented, which resulted in large groups of people moving into this newly available land. The water was diverted into a network of canals that could provide it for agricultural use, specifically sugar cane. However, now that the fresh water from Lake Okeechobee could not take its natural route to the sea, the Everglades began to dry out. The fragile peat soils shrank drastically due to dehydration and oxidation (when carbon in the soil becomes carbon dioxide). This drying of the peat soils caused unnatural fires that raced through the ecosystem. These fires could burn for months due to the flammable peat, and caused the Everglades to decrease at an alarming rate. Since the fragile peat soils have been oxidized and drained and cannot be replaced, it has hindered attempts to restore this ecosystem. These numerous problems led to the creation of the Florida Water Management District in 1949. The FWMD provides flood control and a water supply while still maintaining an area of natural wildlife habitat and still operates today.

The Old Ingram Highway was the first road built through the Everglades after draining projects began. It stretched 41 miles long.

Sources for photos:  http://www.nps.gov/ever/historyculture/index.htm