Canals, levees and dikes: take a look at how the water flow is managed in South Florida
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The Everglades info series
See more from ‘The Everglades info series,’ a Miami Herald video series produced by visual journalist D.A. Varela.
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A look at the efforts to reverse nearly a century of damage to the Florida Everglades
Canals, levees and dikes: take a look at how the water flow is managed in South Florida
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To drain the vast Everglades and protect the farming and development that took its place, engineers created a network of canals, levees, massive flood gates and pumps that span much of South Florida.
The aging flood-control system, built in stages over the last half-century or more, dramatically altered the natural flow of the River of Grass, sending too much water at the wrong time to some places while leaving others too dry. A multibillion-dollar restoration project aims to correct many of the problems created decades ago.
A hydrologist from the South Florida Water Management District explains how the system works in the second episode of “The Everglades info series,” a Miami Herald video series produced by visual journalist D.A. Varela, and looks at how Florida officials manage the flow of water coming from the Kissimmee area all the way down to the Everglades.
Perhaps no place in Florida better illustrates the dangers of climate change than South Florida wetlands, an area once covering 4,000 square miles and now less than half that size, due to fragmentation for agricultural, real estate and public use. Now realities such as sea-level rise, water pollution, salt-water intrusion and loss of precious carbon sinks in the form of peat soils threaten to compound the damage already done by the settling and permanent occupation of the peninsula.
Subsequent episodes of “The Everglades info series,” which launched today, will look at the impacts of climate change in the Everglades, explore how human activity and natural forces impact the wetlands and focus on restoration efforts.
This video was produced with funding from Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald is responsible for all editorial content.
This story was originally published May 5, 2023 at 5:00 AM.