Lake Okeechobee

Everglades Restoration Does Not Have Anything to do With Stopping Discharges from Lake O

Florida’s sugarcane farmers take seriously the responsibility to clean the water flowing off our farms. Through a program of water and soil cleansing techniques known as best management practices (BMPs) that was developed working with the University of Florida, our farmers have reduced phosphorus in the water flowing south by an annual average of 57 percent. This was achieved through a series of advanced farming techniques that include using GPS and lasers to level fields, modifying pumping practices, vegetation control, canal cleaning, and reducing soil erosion.

Water in Everglades National Park is the cleanest it has been in our lifetime, with 100 percent of the park’s water meeting the protective 10 parts per billion standard for phosphorus.

Thanks to these efforts, 100 percent of the water in Everglades National Park is meeting protective federal clean water standards of 10 parts per billion.