Recent heavy rain has changed conditions across parts of the Florida Everglades that were dry just weeks ago, restoring standing water to areas affected by a prolonged drought.
Marshall Jones, a fifth-generation Gladesman and owner of Mack’s Fish Camp, said water that had sat four to six inches below ground level has risen to roughly 10 inches deep in some sloughs. He said the returning water allows the Everglades to resume its natural cleansing processes.
The late-arriving rain may also follow a favorable nesting period for alligators, turtles and other reptiles, which need dry ground for their eggs. Jones expects the conditions could lead to the strongest percentage of successful reptile hatches in more than a decade.
The drought also caused a major die-off of invasive cattails, which can overwhelm native vegetation. Meanwhile, the renewed water flow is helping recharge the Biscayne Aquifer, a drinking-water source relied upon by more than 9 million residents, and has allowed airboat tours at Mack’s Fish Camp to resume normal operations. Source: CBS Miami.
