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Water Conservation Area 2 (WCA-2) is a sawgrass wetland, that encompasses an area of 210 square miles and represents the smallest of the three Everglades Water Conservation Areas. WCA-2 was created as a critical component of the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Project in the early 1960’s. This project was designed to provide flood protection, water supply and environmental benefits for the region. Levee construction during the C&SF Project cut off historical overland sheet flow to the system. Impoundment of these waters, coupled with regional water management practices, significantly altered the marsh’s natural hydroperiod by increasing water depths for long periods of time, thus causing loss of tree islands and wet prairie communities. In 1961, a levee (L-35B) was constructed across the southern portion of WCA-2 dividing the area into two smaller units, WCA-2A (173 sq. miles) and WCA-2B (37 sq. miles), in an effort to reduce water storage capabilities of WCA-2A.
Approximately 58 percent of the inflow water entering WCA-2A originate from the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Canal inflow waters are highly mineralized and contain high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus resulting from the oxidation of organic peat soils within the EAA. As a result, the marshes along the northern and southwestern levees are highly nutrient enriched and are highly infested with cattail.
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