Lake Okeechobee and its watershed are key components of south Florida's Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades ecosystem, which extends from the headwaters of the Kissimmee River in the north to Florida Bay in the south.
Lake Okeechobee is one of largest lakes in the United States and is the headwaters of the Everglades. This ecosystem has been under stress for many years, but today there is broad agreement on the steps necessary to restore the lake, and the leadership to make sure it happens.
Lake Okeechobee provides habitat for a wide variety of wading birds, migratory waterfowl and the federally endangered Everglades Snail Kite. The lake historically has been a bass and speckled perch haven, and a commercial fishery resource. Lake Okeechobee also is a source of drinking water for lakeside cities and towns and can be a backup water supply for the communities of the lower east coast of Florida. The lake also supplies irrigation water for the expansive Everglades Agricultural Area and is a critical supplemental water supply for the Everglades. Given these often competing demands on the lake, management of the water resource is a major challenge.
Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in the southeastern United States and is the headwaters of the Everglades.
During the 20th Century, much of the land around Lake Okeechobee was converted to agricultural use. To the north, dairy farms and beef cattle ranching became the major land uses, while in the south, sugar cane and vegetable farming increased rapidly. Associated with the land use changes were large increases in the rate of nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) inputs to the lake, and detrimental changes occurred in the lake's water quality.
With hydrologic modifications to the lake in the late 1800s and the building of Herbert Hoover Dike in the early 1900s, today all discharges into and out of the lake are artificially controlled, except Fisheating Creek. A Lake Okeechobee regulation schedule has been implemented and is designed to provide floodwater storage capacity during the wet season, and to supplement water supply during the dry season. The present regulation schedule, the lake has experienced frequent and prolonged high-water levels. These have been extremely damaging to both the lake and to downstream ecosystems.
Despite these human-induced impacts, Lake Okeechobee continues to be a vital, freshwater resource for south Florida, with irreplaceable natural and societal values.
The Florida State legislature passed the Lake Okeechobee Protection Bill during the year 2000 session. This legislation requires the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to form a partnership to restore the lake and its watershed. The legislation is predicated on the strategies proposed in the Lake Okeechobee Action Plan.
About Watersheds
Okeechobee
![About Lake Okeechobee [PDF]](http://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/3524003.GIF)
