Estuaries Now Drain the Lake

The St Lucie & Caloosahatchee estuaries drained Lake Okeechobee for agricultural lands south of the lake, 1920s.
The St Lucie & Caloosahatchee estuaries drained Lake Okeechobee for agricultural lands south of the lake, 1920s.

Before the land was altered, a sixty mile wide, winding, shallow, grassy, river, meandered south of Lake Okeechobee feeding the Everglades. The powers of the time were determined to drain these lands since the mid 1800s and by 1920 they had; a remarkable feat. And as many of the great “accomplishments” of the past century, this feat, not only achieved its goal, but also led to massive environmental destruction.  Progress went too far. It is now the mission and economic opportunity for upcoming  generations to undo damage done. The only true way to accomplish this is to create a third outlet south of the lake as the amount  of water needing to go south in rainy times could never possibly be fixed by well intended “projects” north or  around the lake…

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