Excerpt
DURING the late 1800s and early 1900s, large areas of Florida's Everglades were drained for agricultural and urban development. That development has dramatically changed natural habitat and threatens the existence of many unique plants and animals. Today, more than half of the original Everglades have been drained, primarily for agricultural development. Water now flows through a highly managed system of canals and levees in greatly altered flow patterns. A major concern is the impact that drainage waters from agricultural land have on the Everglades ecosystem.
Agriculture's impact on the Florida Everglades was brought to national attention on October. 10, 1988, when U.S. Attorney Dexter Lehtinen filed suit against the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. That suit claimed the agencies had failed to regulate polluted water flowing into Everglades land owned by the federal government. More than three years later, on February 24, 1992, a settlement was approved by U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler.
The settlement says that the Everglades are endangered because they are not receiving enough water and the water …
Footnotes
J. A. Stone is an environmental consultant, 1164 SW 149th Terrace, Sunrise, Florida 33326-1949. D. E. Legg is a district conservationist with the Soil Conservation Service, US. Department of Agriculture, 559 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach, Florida 33415.
- Copyright 1992 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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