Today, let’s come back to Everglades National Park, which has an incredible variety of creatures.
Here, in a subtropical wild environment, when I traveled, I found alligators, ball-headed dolphins, manatees, egrets, blue herons, bald eagles, and eagles.
When I came there, I enjoyed everything—these amazing subtropical swamps and marshes—and did not even know what this park hid.
After I talked to the locals, I found out about:
Ecological Problems of the Everglades
I was shocked when I found that the park is on the verge of ecological disaster.
Well, how did it start?
As early as the beginning of the 20th century, the Everglades suffered considerable damage due to the draining of swamps and the cutting down of forests undertaken in the interests of people (agricultural production).
In record time, swamps were reduced.
To save the park, people brought and planted melaleuca tea trees.
These trees sucked up four times more water from the ground than the most greedy native species.
As the plantation owners controlled the situation, the environment became a constant tributary of the economy.
However, in this man-made paradise, not everything was as good as it should be.
In the summer months, wave after wave of terrible fires swept through the gardens and fields.
The earth was burning, devoid of fertile moisture.
Many plantations yielded income for only two or three years, after which the soil was deprived of nutrients.
However, the planters did not back down before the fires and quickly created a system of reservoirs that drew even more water from the Kissimmee lakes.
The water cycle has not just stopped; the water has been poisoned by pesticides and fertilizers that have entered the groundwater uncontrollably.
The Everglades are on the brink of extinction.
It was only through the dedicated efforts of activists like Marjorie Stoopman Douglas that attitudes towards the swamps began to change in the middle of the last century.
It took Florida residents decades to realize that the draining of the Everglades threatened to leave the entire peninsula without water.
A huge project worth a billion dollars was initiated to save the swamps.
To restore water circulation in the region, dozens of pumping stations were installed.
However, for much of the once-prosperous Everglades, these measures came too late.
In the original part of paradise, only memories remained in the heads of locals.
The southern part of the Everglades was declared a national park in 1947 and included in the UNESCO list of natural monuments in 1979.
The existence of the Everglades is still in question.
This is proved by the long list of species of animals and plants living here that are on the verge of extinction.
As an ecosystem, the Everglades were included in this list in 1993, despite all the measures taken to save them.
Now, guys, I am answering your constant questions:
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Are the Everglades Freshwater?
Yes.
It is one of the largest preserved freshwater swamps in the world.
The Everglades still remain one of the largest preserved freshwater swamps in the world with their unique subtropical thickets, which the American Indians called “pa-hi-okie”, or “grassy water”.
What Kind of Water is in The Everglades?
Everglades has freshwater.
Currently, 50% of the area originally occupied by the Everglades is used as agricultural land, and 50% has been declared a nature reserve with freshwater.
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Is The Water in the Everglades Clear?
Yes.
At first glance, it may seem that the Everglades are a kind of sluggishly flowing swamp.
In fact, this is a kind of river.
About a hundred years ago, it reached a width of 50 miles, a length of 99 miles, and a depth of 0.6 miles.
The rain that fell in central Florida reached Lake Okeechobee along the Kissimmee River.
From it flowed a unlike river, which was divided into two streams: one flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, the other into the Atlantic Ocean.
Due to a slight slope, the water flowed very slowly, from 0.2 to 0.4 miles per day.
It took a year for the water from Lake Okeechobee to reach the ocean.
With such a slow movement, the water was well saturated with oxygen, and a peculiar and very effective purification system was created.
As a result, the water here was the cleanest in the United States.
During the summer months, when there is a lot of rain, the Everglades are almost completely covered in water.
The slightest violation of this order, which has been established for thousands of years, threatens the death of entire species.
The Everglades also hold back the pressure of salt water and provide Florida with fresh water.
Nature does not tolerate corrections.
As a result of the drainage and construction of roads 41 and 75, the delicate balance has been upset, and the Everglades are under threat.
Therefore, in 1998, a rescue plan was developed, for which about 8 billion dollars were allocated.
Let’s hope that this unusually grassy river can be preserved, at least in its current state.
Where Does the Water in the Everglades Come From?
The park terrain is formed by the slow movement of fresh water south from the Orlando-Kissimmee River system through the massive Lake Okeechobee.
Okeechobee is one of the largest lakes in North America, apart from the Great Lakes.
Everglades Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the importance of animal habitats in this park.
Is The Water in the Everglades Drinkable?
No,do not drink water in the Everglades.
No matter how thirsty you are, you should never drink water that is undrinkable.
Waterborne diseases are the most dangerous.
Unfit for drinking, water abounds with disease-causing organisms.
You can buy a variety of filters in stores, ranging from $22 to $700, but I personally prefer to consume bottled water.
If you stay for camping in the Everglades, you must know that there are no bars within the national park itself, and drinks will only be available from small shops and vending machines at or near visitor centers (non-alcoholic, except for Flamingo Marina, which also has beer).
Please note that if you are visiting the South Everglades, there is no potable water between Long Pine Key Campground and Flamingo Pier.
If you are crossing the park on a bike or on foot, be prepared.
The campsites have running water that you can drink.
