Qualla: The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/w/e/everglades-river-grass-wk/florida-bay-flamingo-e.jpg Qualla: The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died: Introduction https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass/ Photo credit Public domain. The Everglades was never a swamp. It was a river - a 60-mile-wide sheet of water flowing imperceptibly southward from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay, so shallow you could wade across it, so slow you couldn't see it move. Marjory Stoneman Douglas named it 'the River of Grass' in 1947, the same year the National Park was established. By then, the river was already dying. Canals drained water for agriculture and development. The Everglades shrank to half its original extent. Pollution from sugar farms poisoned what remained. Now the largest environmental restoration project in history is trying to replumb South Florida, undoing a century of drainage to save what Marjory Douglas taught us to value.

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Image: Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/w/e/everglades-river-grass-wk/dhw2-the-everglades-the-river-of-grass-that-almost-died-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died: The System https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass/ Photo credit Stefan.witz, CC0. The Everglades began as rainfall on central Florida, draining into Lake Okeechobee, overflowing the lake's southern rim, and spreading across the peninsula in a sheet flow 60 miles wide and inches deep. The water moved south at roughly 100 feet per day - invisible current through...

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Image: Stefan.witz | CC0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/w/e/everglades-river-grass-wk/dhw2-the-everglades-the-river-of-grass-that-almost-died-the-system.mp3 0:06 2 full The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died: The Drainage https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass/ Photo credit David Berkowitz from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0. Florida's development demanded water control. Beginning in the early 1900s, canals diverted Lake Okeechobee overflow east and west to the ocean rather than south through the Everglades. The Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project (1948) expanded the system, building 1,...

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Image: David Berkowitz from New York, NY, USA | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/w/e/everglades-river-grass-wk/dhw2-the-everglades-the-river-of-grass-that-almost-died-the-drainage.mp3 0:06 3 full The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died: The Restoration https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass/ Photo credit Moni3, Public domain. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), authorized in 2000, is the largest environmental restoration project in history - over $10 billion, spanning 30+ years, attempting to replumb South Florida to restore more natural water flow. The plan removes canals, builds wa...

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Image: Moni3 | Public domain

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/w/e/everglades-river-grass-wk/dhw2-the-everglades-the-river-of-grass-that-almost-died-the-restoration.mp3 0:06 4 full The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died: The Wildlife https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass/ Photo credit Chauncey Davis, CC BY 2.0. The Everglades remains one of North America's richest wildlife habitats. American alligators and American crocodiles both live here - the only place on Earth where both species coexist. Wading birds - herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills, wood storks - feed in the shallow waters. M...

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Image: Chauncey Davis | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/w/e/everglades-river-grass-wk/dhw2-the-everglades-the-river-of-grass-that-almost-died-the-wildlife.mp3 0:06 5 full The Everglades: The River of Grass That Almost Died: Visiting Everglades National Park https://qualla.com/everglades-river-grass/ Photo credit Sut6777, CC BY-SA 4.0. Everglades National Park covers 1.5 million acres - the third-largest national park in the lower 48. Primary access points are at Homestead (Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center), Shark Valley (north entrance with tram tours), and Everglades City (Gulf Coast, boat access). Dry season (De...

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Image: Sut6777 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/w/e/everglades-river-grass-wk/dhw2-the-everglades-the-river-of-grass-that-almost-died-visiting-everglades-national-park.mp3 0:06 6 full