The Everglades has been drained, farmed, developed and criss-crossed with flood-control canals and — over the last few decades — been the focus of billions of dollars of restoration projects.

All the changes to the sprawling natural system dramatically altered the original flow of the River of Grass. A shallow sheet of water historically meandered from the Kissimmee River basin as far north as Orlando, down to Lake Okeechobee through the sawgrass marshes and finally into Florida Bay at the southern tip of the state.

Reversing nearly a century of damage is a formidable and still uncertain undertaking but the state and federal agencies working to restore the natural flow, and revive diminished wildlife, have seen encouraging signs as projects are completed.

The first episode of “The Everglades info series,” a Miami Herald video series produced by visual journalist D.A. Varela, traces that history and looks at how the water flows through 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.

The Everglades info series

This swamp helps provide drinking water for Floridians. What does Big Cypress look like?

Get unlimited digital access

#ReadLocal