The Big O.

Lake Okeechobee has been in a drought for most of this year. For a while this boat ramp was so low on water the fishermen couldn’t launch their boats. You can see the lake at the end of the green down the canal. Last year when I visited here you couldn’t see too much green it was all water out there. There have been times in the last 100 years that boats were stranded 20 miles from the waterline. You can’t blame the people who did this over the last 100 years. Everyone has always designed what they thought would be the most beneficial way to use, conserve, and protect the water while protecting everyone else from the water. Old timers here in Fort Myers say the water used to just sheet flow about 2-3 feet deep down highway 41 after a big rain. This state is so flat as it rose out of the sea and is mostly limestone that the water just sits on it. The US army corps of Engineers has installed a vast network of drainage canals in Florida to help this water escape without the very serious damage caused by flooding in urban areas. As Florida continues to grow we are now rethinking again how best we can manage this huge challenge.