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.