About Everglades

Though modified by agricultural development in central and southern Florida, the Everglades is the southern half of a large watershed arising in the vicinity of Orlando known as the Kissimmee River system. The Kissimmee flows from Taylor Creek, Nubbin Slough, and Fisheating Creek, and discharges into Lake Okeechobee, a very large (730 mi² or 1,890 km²), shallow (10 ft or 3 m) fresh water lake. Water leaving Lake Okeechobee in the wet season forms the Everglades, a shallow, slow-moving flood at one time 40 miles (60 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long moving southward across a nearly flat limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades extends from Lake Okeechobee on the north to Florida Bay on the south and was once bordered by Big Cypress Swamp on the west and the Atlantic Coastal Ridge on the east. It has been called a "River of Grass" by Marjory Stoneman Douglas because of the slow flow of water from Okeechobee southward and the predominance of a sedge known as sawgrass. Slightly elevated points in this extremely flat area are covered with trees, usually cypress and red mangrove. Approximately 50 percent of the original Everglades has been lost to agriculture and urban development. Most of the rest is now protected in a national park, national wildlife refuge, and water conservation areas. Water from the Everglades is still used as a water supply for the South Florida metropolitan area. The Everglades is crossed from west to east by a toll road called "Alligator Alley", now part of Interstate 75.