Florida Everglades Restoration: Lake Okeechobee, Research Paper Example

Lake Okeechobee is the largest body of freshwater located in Florida, and the second largest in the contiguous United States. It is a shallow lake, averaging a depth of nine feet. It covers 730 square miles on the south-central region and makes up a substantial part of the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades (KOE) system (“Lake Okeechobee”). Lake Okeechobee is designated a Class I water, which means it “provides drinking water for urban areas, irrigation water for agricultural lands, recharge for aquifers, freshwater for the Everglades, habitat for fish and waterfowl, flood control, navigation, and many recreational opportunities” (“Lake Okeechobee”). Because of this, it is a major aspect of the Florida Everglades Restoration Project and its role in the Everglades and surrounding ecosystems in extraordinarily significant. According to the Florida Department of  Environmental Protection, the water quality in the lake has degraded over time due to high phosphorous concentrations. This is leading directly to the unhealthy ecosystem. The Florida Everglades Restoration Project, in conjunction with the Florida EPA and several wildlife and conservation groups, seek to restore the ecosystem biodiversity, improve water quality, and promote sustainable policy in its restoration efforts.

Lake Okeechobee and its wetlands is home to numerous plants and animals, many of which are endangered and threatened (“Learn About”). Because of the agricultural activities around the lake, pollutants continue to find their way into the lake. This is directly caused by stormwater pollutants from various weather patterns, such as storms and droughts (“Learn About”). Out of the many pollutants that enter the lake, phosphorous has been the most excessive and harmful and nearly tripled from the 1960’s-1980’s, and at this point the levels are at 100 parts per billion (“Learn About”). This increase in phosphorous levels is mostly caused by local and regional storm treatment and control (“Learn About”). It has also lead to increased algae growth and major fish kills. Both of these are obviously harmful to the natural ecosystem of the lake, and the algae specifically causes extra build-up of the phosphorous levels (“Learn About”). These all have lead up to the increased focus on and initiatives being taken to restore the water quality of the entire watershed area (“Learn About”).

In an effort to curb pollution and to restore Lake Okeechobee, the watersheds and the ecosystem of the area, Florida has developed the most comprehensive and largest environmental restoration project the state has ever seen (“Why Restore the Everglades”). This project includes the entire ecosystems of the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, because they are extremely important to biodiversity and quality of life. Two of the main features of the restoration project include water quality and water flow. The project will maximize phosphorous reduction, implement more stringent regulations to protect water quality, meet minimum sampling thresholds, optimize the performance of the Storm Treatment Areas, set real, numeric water quality standards, protect wetlands, establish flow rates sufficient to prevent pollutant concentrations to meet the needs of flora and fauna, and prevent pollution from the use of reclaimed wastewater (“2025 Vision”).

Along with efforts to restore water quality, the initiative also seeks to promote restoration of biodiversity in the ecosystem. This is outlined as protecting the area by controlling growth and development in sensitive and at-risk areas, providing full funding for land protection programs, promoting wildlife compatible agricultural practices, controlling invasive species, ensuring the  implementation of the Florida Water and Land Legacy constitutional amendment, and encouraging fact-based approaches to state listing of species. This means that the state will assure that scientifically-based criteria will be used across the board to to meet federal and international standards in protecting Florida’s wildlife before they reach dangerously low levels of endangered status (“2025 Vision”). These efforts, along with the water quality designations, will put Lake Okeechobee and the surrounding ecosystem of the Everglades back on track to restoration.

Also part of the 2025 Vision for the Everglades, is creating and fostering sustainable regions. This will improve not only the environmental concerns, but also provide significant economic benefits as well as much-needed water supply protections. This will ensure sufficient clean water, reversal of the ecological decline of Lake Okeechobee, and the rehabilitation of the region in order to support its natural wildlife such as the Florida panther and the Cape Sable seaside sparrow (“2025 Vision”). The stated roadmap to accomplish these goals sets forth the following initiatives: For the Northern region—complete and fully implement protection plans for the Everglades and the estuaries, reduce nutrient loading into Lake Okeechobee, develop additional natural water storage, among other initiatives (“2025 Vision”). For the Central and Southern region of the Everglades, the project aims to improve sheetflow through the Everglades, increase freshwater flows, and restore ridge and slough landscape pattern (“2025 Vision”).

With these significant and comprehensive efforts and initiatives being implemented for the restoration of water quality and ecosystem biodiversity, Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades will have a major reversal on the environmental concerns that has resulted from years of human impact.

Works Cited

“Lake Okeechobee.” Lake Okeechobee | Florida Everglades | Florida DEP. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.<http://dep.state.fl.us/everglades/lakeo.htm>.

“2025 Vision for the Everglades.” Everglades Coalition. Web. 23 Sept. 2015 <http://www.evergladescoalition.org/EVCO%202025%20Vision%20for%20the %20Everglades.pdf>.

“Learn About Your Watershed.” Lake Okeechobee Watershed, Belle Glade, Clewiston, Pahokee, Port Mayaca Lock, Hoover Dike. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.            <http://www.protectingourwater.org/watersheds/map/lake_okeechobee/>.

“Why Restore the Everglades.” Why Restore the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. <http://www.dep.state.fl.us/evergladesforever/restoration/>.