Sculpturing the Earth's Surface. The Florida Everglades - Essay Example

? “The universe is reflected in the sides of a grain of sand” d William Blake and this stands absolutely true for the region defining the South Florida Everglades (as cited in Dugger, n.d). It is a living example of how much destruction a hundred years of forced oppression can impose upon a region. Everglades or, a ‘river of grass’, as it was dubbed by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, is a vast expanse of freshwater marshes which extends from Lake Okeechobee South to the tip of Florida. However, continuous exploitation over the decades by the populace has polluted the everglades water and devastated the marshland. Since the 1950’s the urban development and agricultural production in the region flourished but at the cost of the everglades. Big scale attempts are being made to restore the region; the step being an example of the progress from exploitation of the natural resources, to a period of preservation, where the value of these extinguishing reserves were realized and most currently to efforts aimed at revival of the ecosystem (Dugger, n.d). Historically, the Everglades covered 4000 sq. miles in Florida but today it has been reduced to half its size. The marshlands form a section of a huge drainage basin, Lake Okeechobee which covers an area of 11,000 sq miles approximately. There are various forms of habitat that exist on the marshland- open water sloughs, cypress swamps, hard wood hammocks, mangrove swamps and pinelands. Moreover, the plants and animals species found in this region are unique and specialized to the region. However, the scenario started changing in the late 1980’s with the beginning of developments like creation of agricultural farms for growing sugarcane and vegetables, building up of new canals and levees for protecting the farms and the cities from floods, and increase in the infrastructure in the east of the everglades. As a consequence, some parts of the marshland started facing drought and others flood (Orem, 2009). The problem started as soon as the control of this region’s water management went into the hands of the Army corps of engineers. They built canals to divert water to avoid floods as well as for farming purposes, affecting the entire ecosystem adversely. Moreover, the everglades water was also infected from the contaminated overspill of the sugarcane and agricultural farms. One of the biggest groups of sugarcane growers, the big sugar, is highly responsible for destroying the Everglades. Farmers of these agricultural farms use high content phosphorus fertilizers in excessive quantities, to improve the quality of their soil. The runoff water from these sugarcane farms carrying the killer phosphorus gets drained into the Everglades through canal-water discharge from Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades agricultural area. It was revealed that this overdose of nutrient resulted in the overgrowth of unwanted plant and algae species or eutrophication, which in turn caused great harm to the original vegetation of Everglades. Not only fertilizers but sewage and human wastes from these fields are being dumped into the marshlands thus polluting the water, making it unhygienic to drink, and the survival of flora and fauna impossible. The entire ecosystem of Florida is in peril because of the pollution (Orem, 2009). Moreover, U.S. factory farms too have contributed to the contamination of the Everglades. During rainy season or snow melting season, the runoff water from these farms, which grow animal feed crops, carry the top soil particles into the marshland. The 1.4 billion tones of animal manures generated on these farms are also let off through the canals into the marshlands, thus polluting the water. New regulations meant to improve the situation through proper treatment of the manure produced, cannot take effect before another 10 years. According to Environment Protection Agency (EPA), these chemicals are making the water unhygienic to drink which once used to serve as a fresh water source for the Miami Metropolitan area. People living in the surrounding areas have been warned not to consume the contaminated fishes and the water as it is causing various diseases like cancer, damage to the nervous system, and even death (Ried, 2010). The problem of water pollution of the everglades is a very serious one and can only be solved through stern laws and regulations of the government. One of the most significant steps undertaken by the President of U.S.A in 2000 was the passing of the law - the ‘Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)’. An amount of $ 7.8 billion has been set for the project which will take around 30 years to complete. This project is aimed at reviving the everglades, its acres of mangrove and cypress swamps, saw grass prairies, hardwood hammocks and coral reefs and most importantly, liberating it of pollution. In addition, it aims to restore the natural flow of water by reducing the supply to agricultural farms and communities and thereby, doubling the quantity of fresh water supplies to South Florida. This has been the most promising project taken by the government to restore the Everglades but it has been facing both political and funding problems and therefore, has been progressing very slowly. This law needs to be implemented seriously to achieve the aim of making the everglades pollution-free (The U.S Army Corps of Engineers & South Florida Water Management District [SFWMD], 2000). Moreover, the Florida government needs to ensure that the rules set by them are strictly followed. The EPA had finalized the standard limit on the amount of phosphorus i.e. 10bps, which could be drained in the waters of the Everglades but this regulation has not been strictly followed by the big sugar companies. Besides, the U.S Supreme Court had set a law in 2004 making it mandatory for these companies to attain a Clean Water Act Discharge permit before draining the pollutants in the water but the latter hasn’t been doing so (Orem, 2009) . Furthermore, there are certain limits that need to be set on the amount of water that can used for consumption and also on the quantity of fertilizers that could be used by the farmers. The rapid rate at which population is increasing in South Florida consumption of water is also increasing. As per today, the urban area receives 1.2 million acres of water; 22 % more than the water flowing in the national park. According to scientists, by 2050 the requirement of water for consumption will double due to rapid rise of population. Therefore, the government needs to set strict rules for water conservation like minimal use of water by the people, re-use of water when possible, and re-sanitation to expand water supply (National Research Council, 2008, pp. 44-45). Another important step that the government took was in June 2008, when Governor Christ announced the purchase of U.S sugars for $1.7 billion by the State of Florida. This step will further enable the Everglades to come back to its pre-drainage stage (The U.S Army corps of Engineers & SFWMD, 2000). Therefore, it can be concluded that the government, EPA and other bodies associated with the Everglades are trying their level best to restore them, and their efforts along with the support of the common people will definitely bring back the heritage of Florida to its original glory. Work cited Dugger, A. (n.d). Introduction. In The South Florida Everglades Restoration Project. Retrieved from http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/maidment/grad/dugger/GLADES/glades.html National Research Council. (2008). The National Research Council and Everglades restoration. In Progress towards restoring the Everglades: The second biennial review 2008 (pp. 44-45). Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=twdL_P__T3YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Progress +towards+restoring+the+Everglades:+The+second+biennial+review+%092008&hl=en& sa=X&ei=12I- T_eAYmGrAe526i_Bw&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Progress%20towards% 20restoring%20the%20Everglades%3A%20The%20second%20biennial%20review%20 %09 2008&f=false Orem, W. H. (2009, Feb 20). Pollutants threaten the everglade future. Earth: The science behind the headlines. Retrieved from http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/pollutants-threaten- everglades-future Ried, A. (2010, Feb 14). South Florida faces tough new water pollution rules that could soak taxpayers. Sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved from http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-02- 14/news/fl-water-quality-rules-20100214_1_pollution-rules-water- pollution-clean-water- act The U.S Army Corps of Engineers & South Florida Water Management District (2000, Feb). CERP: The plan in depth. In The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Retrieved from http://www.evergladesplan.org/about/rest_plan_pt_01.asp Read More