FIGURE 2-1 Water flow in the Everglades under (a) historical conditions, (b) current conditions, and (c) conditions envisioned upon completion of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

SOURCE: Graphics provided by USACE, Jacksonville District.

the southern edge of the lake with the massive Herbert Hoover Dike that now encircles the lake. The hydrologic end product of these drainage activities was the drastic reduction of water storage within the system and an increased susceptibility to drought and desiccation in the southern reaches of the Everglades (NRC, 2005).

After further flooding in 1947 and increasing demands for improved agricultural production and flood control for the expanding population centers on the southeast Florida coast, the U.S. Congress authorized the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Project. This USACE project provided flood control with the construction of a levee along the eastern boundary of the Everglades to prevent flows into the southeastern urban areas, established the 700,000-acre Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) south of Lake Okeechobee (see Box 2-1), and created a series of water conservation areas (WCAs) in the remaining space between the lake and Everglades National Park (Light and Dineen, 1994). The eastern levee isolated about 100,000 acres of Everglades ecosys-