Does the Everglades provide drinking water?
The Everglades also provides critical, and often undervalued, benefits to people, called ecosystem services. For example, the Everglades ecosystem provides drinking water for one-third of Floridians and irrigation for much of the state’s agriculture.
How much water does the Everglades provide?
Plants and wildlife depend on that water, and so do we. The River of Grass provides the drinking water for South Florida. Altogether, the Everglades ecosystem supplies the drinking water for eight million Floridians. That’s one out of every three people living in the state.
What is the water like in the Everglades?
Fresh and Salt Waters Its average depth is only 1.2 to 1.5 meters (4 to 5 feet), and 2.7 meters (9 feet) at its deepest point. The fresh-water flow from the Everglades is a vital component to the health of these areas, and also to the islands of the Florida Keys and their world-renowned coral reefs.
How is the water that goes into the Everglades controlled?
Instead, an incredibly complex system of pumps, levees and canals transports lake water into the southern Everglades. When Lake Okeechobee gets higher than federally-regulated levels (which vary by season), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases excess water through locks like this one at Port Mayaca.
What happened to the water in the Everglades?
Rather than exiting Okeechobee as a normal river, the water simply flooded over its southern banks, forming a sheet that pumped life throughout the Everglades. When 20th-century waterworks shrank the Everglades’ water flow, it had a ripple effect (or, more accurately, a lack of one) throughout the wetland basin.
Is it dangerous to go to the Everglades?
You must keep in mind that the Everglades is a wildlife site, and there are very real and wild threats in it. However, if you are prepared, then you have nothing to worry about.
Is the Everglades dangerous?
The Everglades National Park in Florida is the only natural World Heritage site in America to land on the critically in danger list due to human population growth, development, invasive species and fertilizer drainage. There are many other programs set up to help protect and restore the everglades.
What to do if you see an alligator in the water?
If you have a close encounter with an alligator a few yards away, back away slowly. It is extremely rare for wild alligators to chase people, but they can run up to 35 miles per hour for short distances on land. Never make the mistake of thinking that an alligator is slow and lethargic.