Lake Okeechobee, Part 1

Lake Okeechobee in Florida drains (or used to drain) to the Everglades.  After a series of devastating storms in the 1920s, the lake was surrounded by a dike, and canals were built to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.  The result is a largely dead lake, and a severely endangered Everglades.  Because of the rules in place to prevent the lake from overflowing (as it used to do naturally), the canals bring water to the coasts, along with too many nutrients (from agricultural fertilizers) and at a volume too high for the outlets to handle.  The results are poisonous red tides and severe erosion.

Elwha River, 2010-2014

The Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, on the Elwha River in Washington, were built at the beginning of the 20th century, without permit, by a paper company.  After many years of activism on the part of local environmentalists and the Elwha Klallam Indians, the federal government agreed to remove the dams.  The dams have now been removed, and the salmon have returned to spawn.  Thousands of seedlings have been planted to help speed the restoration of the local ecosystem.  It will be many decades before the area returns to something resembling its previous state.

2010

2010

2010

2010

2012

2014

2014

2014

2014

2010

2012

2014

2010

2014

2010

2014