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| Under natural circumstances, the Kissimmee River headwaters originated in Central Florida and meandered slowly southward for about 100 miles, where the river emptied into Lake Okeechobee. This river flowed sluggishly through the vast Kissimmee River Valley creating hundreds of square miles of wetland habitat which traditionally harbored bald eagles and migratory waterfowl. However by 1971, the US Army Corps of Engineers had completed the massive project of "canalizing" this river, and had reduced the looping river to a 52 miles long canal renamed Canal 38. This "canalization" drained over half of the valley's wetlands and eventually led to nutrient loading in Lake Okeechobee. |  |
[Hydrology][Next:Lake Okeechobee]
