Kissimmee River
Encyclopedia
The Kissimmee River is a river in south-central Florida
, United States
.
as the outflow from East Lake Tohopekaliga
, passing through Lake Tohopekaliga
, Lake Cypress, Lake Hatchineha and Lake Kissimmee
. Below Lake Kissimmee, the river forms the boundary between Osceola County and Polk County
, between Highlands County
and Okeechobee County
, and between Glades County
and Okeechobee County before it flows into Lake Okeechobee
. The river was originally 134 miles (215.7 km) in length, 103 miles (165.8 km) of which was between Lake Kissimmee and Lake Okeechobee. It forms the headwaters of the Kissimmee River-Lake Okeechobee-Everglades
ecosystem
.
The Kissimmee River watershed
of 3000 square miles (7,770 km²) is adjacent to the Eastern Continental Divide
, with triple watershed points at the Miami (north)
, Withlacoochee (northwest), and Peace (west)
rivers' watersheds and the Lake Okeechobee watershed (southwest). The floodplain
of the river supports a diverse community of waterfowl
, wading birds, fish
, and other wildlife.
, which included the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
and the 1947 October Hurricane, produced very heavy rainfall and flood
ing over most of central
and southern Florida. Florida requested federal assistance in controlling future floods, and in 1954 the United States Congress
authorized the canal
ization of the Kissimmee River. From 1962 to 1970 the United States Army Corps of Engineers
dredged the C-38 Canal down the Kissimmee valley, shortening the 103 miles (165.8 km) distance from Lake Kissimmee to Lake Okeechobee to just 56 miles (90.1 km). It has since been realized that this project damaged the river, with the faster water flow leading to major environmental problems in the Kissimmee Valley and Lake Okeechobee. Efforts are currently underway to reverse the process and re-introduce the many oxbows
in the river that slowed the water.
dried out, reducing the quality of waterfowl habitat by ninety percent, and the number of heron
s, egret
s and wood stork
s by two-thirds. Catches of largemouth bass
in the river were consistently worse after the channelization. While the Kissimmee was not a significant source of pollution for Lake Okeechobee before channelization, in the 1970s and later the river contributed about 25% of the nitrogen and 20% of the phosphorus
flowing into the lake.
Efforts to restore the Kissimmee River to its original flow were approved by Congress in 1992, and began with modification to the headwater lakes in 1997. The United States Army Corps of Engineers
currently hopes to complete the project in 2014.
In 2006, the South Florida Water Management District
had acquired enough land along the river and in the upper chain of lakes to complete restoration. In all, 43 miles of the Kissimmee River will be restored.
Already, wildlife is returning to the restored sections of river. When flooding began again, muck and smothering aquatic weeds were flushed out. Sandbars reemerged. Encroaching dry land trees began dying back. Once dormant plants began to reestablish themselves. The species included pink-tipped smartweed, horsetail, sedges, rushes, arrowhead, duck potato and pickerel weed. Flooding and continuous flow increased levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, creating near perfect conditions for aquatic invertebrates such as insects, mollusks, works, crayfish and freshwater shrimp. This, in turn, boosted fish populations and it led to a rise in bird and alligator populations. The entire food chain benefitted. This is one reason that the Kissimmee River restoration is considered to be the largest true ecosystem restoration project in the world, attracting ecologists from other states and countries. [5]
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Course
The Kissimmee River arises in Osceola CountyOsceola County, Florida
Osceola County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 172,493. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 244,045, making it the 17th fastest-growing county in the United States. Its county seat is Kissimmee.- History :Osceola County was...
as the outflow from East Lake Tohopekaliga
East Lake Tohopekaliga
East Lake Tohopekaliga is a lake in Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is the primary inflow of Boggy Creek, which rises in the Orlando International Airport at above sea level. Three places surround the lake, they are St...
, passing through Lake Tohopekaliga
Lake Tohopekaliga
Lake Tohopekaliga Tohopeka ; Tohopekaliga [from tohopke /to-hó:pk-i/ fence, fort + likv /léyk-a/ site] Lake Toho, West Lake, or simply Toho for short, native name meaning "we will gather together here", is a lake in Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is the primary inflow of Shingle Creek,...
, Lake Cypress, Lake Hatchineha and Lake Kissimmee
Lake Kissimmee
Lake Kissimmee is a Florida lake located about 15 miles east of Lake Wales, Florida, USA.Lake Kissimee State Park is rich with wildlife, including bald eagles, white tailed deer, bobcats, turkeys, and sandhill cranes...
. Below Lake Kissimmee, the river forms the boundary between Osceola County and Polk County
Polk County, Florida
Polk County is located in central Florida between the Tampa Bay and Greater Orlando metropolitan areas. The county was established by the state government in 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War and named after former United States president James K. Polk. The county seat is Bartow and its...
, between Highlands County
Highlands County, Florida
Highlands County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the population was 97,346. Its county seat is Sebring, Florida. The county comprises the Sebring, Florida, Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
and Okeechobee County
Okeechobee County, Florida
Okeechobee County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 35,910. According to 2005 U.S. Census estimates, its population had grown to 39,836. The county seat is Okeechobee, Florida. The county comprises the Okeechobee, Florida Micropolitan Statistical Area.-...
, and between Glades County
Glades County, Florida
Glades County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 10,576. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 11,252 . Its county seat is Moore Haven, Florida.- History :...
and Okeechobee County before it flows into Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee , locally referred to as The Lake or The Big O, is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Florida. It is the seventh largest freshwater lake in the United States and the second largest freshwater lake contained entirely within the lower 48 states...
. The river was originally 134 miles (215.7 km) in length, 103 miles (165.8 km) of which was between Lake Kissimmee and Lake Okeechobee. It forms the headwaters of the Kissimmee River-Lake Okeechobee-Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
.
The Kissimmee River watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of 3000 square miles (7,770 km²) is adjacent to the Eastern Continental Divide
Eastern Continental Divide
The Eastern Continental Divide, in conjunction with other continental divides of North America, demarcates two watersheds of the Atlantic Ocean: the Gulf of Mexico watershed and the Atlantic Seaboard watershed. Prior to 1760, the divide represented the boundary between British and French colonial...
, with triple watershed points at the Miami (north)
Miami River (Florida)
The Miami River is a river in the United States state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the Downtown and the city of Miami. The long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay...
, Withlacoochee (northwest), and Peace (west)
Peace River (Florida)
The Peace River is a river in the southwestern part of the Florida peninsula, in the U.S.A.. It originates at the juncture of Saddle Creek and Peace Creek northeast of Bartow in Polk County and flows south through Hardee County to Arcadia in DeSoto County and then southwest into the Charlotte...
rivers' watersheds and the Lake Okeechobee watershed (southwest). The floodplain
Floodplain
A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...
of the river supports a diverse community of waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
, wading birds, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, and other wildlife.
Flood control
The 1947 Atlantic hurricane season1947 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1947 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 16, 1947, and lasted until November 1, 1947. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
, which included the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
The Fort Lauderdale Hurricane was an intense Category 5 hurricane that affected the Bahamas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in September of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season...
and the 1947 October Hurricane, produced very heavy rainfall and flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing over most of central
Central Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
and southern Florida. Florida requested federal assistance in controlling future floods, and in 1954 the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
authorized the canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
ization of the Kissimmee River. From 1962 to 1970 the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
dredged the C-38 Canal down the Kissimmee valley, shortening the 103 miles (165.8 km) distance from Lake Kissimmee to Lake Okeechobee to just 56 miles (90.1 km). It has since been realized that this project damaged the river, with the faster water flow leading to major environmental problems in the Kissimmee Valley and Lake Okeechobee. Efforts are currently underway to reverse the process and re-introduce the many oxbows
Oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...
in the river that slowed the water.
Effects of channelization
After the river channel was straightened, 40,000 acres (160 km²) of floodplain below Lake KissimmeeLake Kissimmee
Lake Kissimmee is a Florida lake located about 15 miles east of Lake Wales, Florida, USA.Lake Kissimee State Park is rich with wildlife, including bald eagles, white tailed deer, bobcats, turkeys, and sandhill cranes...
dried out, reducing the quality of waterfowl habitat by ninety percent, and the number of heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
s, egret
Egret
An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...
s and wood stork
Wood Stork
The Wood Stork is a large American wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was formerly called the "Wood Ibis", though it is not really an ibis.-Appearance:...
s by two-thirds. Catches of largemouth bass
Largemouth bass
The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
in the river were consistently worse after the channelization. While the Kissimmee was not a significant source of pollution for Lake Okeechobee before channelization, in the 1970s and later the river contributed about 25% of the nitrogen and 20% of the phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
flowing into the lake.
Restoration
Efforts to restore the Kissimmee River to its original flow were approved by Congress in 1992, and began with modification to the headwater lakes in 1997. The United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
currently hopes to complete the project in 2014.
In 2006, the South Florida Water Management District
South Florida Water Management District
The South Florida Water Management District is a regional governmental agency supervised by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection , and is responsible for water quality, flood control, water supply and restoration of the environment in 16 counties in Central and Southern Florida...
had acquired enough land along the river and in the upper chain of lakes to complete restoration. In all, 43 miles of the Kissimmee River will be restored.
Already, wildlife is returning to the restored sections of river. When flooding began again, muck and smothering aquatic weeds were flushed out. Sandbars reemerged. Encroaching dry land trees began dying back. Once dormant plants began to reestablish themselves. The species included pink-tipped smartweed, horsetail, sedges, rushes, arrowhead, duck potato and pickerel weed. Flooding and continuous flow increased levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, creating near perfect conditions for aquatic invertebrates such as insects, mollusks, works, crayfish and freshwater shrimp. This, in turn, boosted fish populations and it led to a rise in bird and alligator populations. The entire food chain benefitted. This is one reason that the Kissimmee River restoration is considered to be the largest true ecosystem restoration project in the world, attracting ecologists from other states and countries. [5]
External links
- South Florida Water Management District: Kissimmee River
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Kissimmee River Restoration
- University of Florida: Kissimmee River restoration
- Kissimmee River Watershed - Florida DEP