River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2000

River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2000

In 1948 Congress answered the outcry of Florida residents for both flood protection and a more reliable drinking water supply by authorizing the Central and Southern Flood Control Project, otherwise known as the C&SF Project. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on one of the nation''s largest infrastructure projects. While the project served its intended purposes far better than ever anticipated, it also caused extensive damage to the naturally occurring ecosystems of south Florida, including the Everglades ecosystem located within and beyond Everglades National Park.

"River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2000," is a history of the construction of the C&SF Project and the project's unintended impacts on the environment, and the evolution of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

Documents

River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2000

by Matthew C. Godfrey, Historian, Historical Research Associates, Inc. with contributions by Theodore Catton

 

Download Complete Document

• Complete Document (28 mb, PDF)
  

  *Note: Very large file size

Download Document in Sections:

• Preface (46 kb, PDF)
• Abbreviations (47 kb, PDF)
• Introduction (499 kb, PDF)
• Chapter one (1.9 mb, PDF)
  Draining the Swamp: Development and the Beginning of Flood Control in South Florida, 1845-1947
• Chapter Two (1.4 mb, PDF)
  Federal Intervention: The Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project, 1948
• Chapter Three (1.5 mb, PDF)
  Balancing Demands: Implementing the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project, 1949-1960
• Chapter Four (1.8 mb, PDF)
  Conflicting Priorities: Everglades National Park and Water Supply in the 1960s
• Chapter Five (2.3 mb, PDF)
  Flexing the Environmental Muscle: The Cross-Florida Barge Canal, the Everglades Jetport, and Big Cypress Swamp
• Chapter Six (1.2 mb, PDF)
  The Liquid Heart of Florida: Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River in the 1970s
• Chapter Seven (1.6 mb, PDF)
  “Save Our Everglades”: Reagan’s New Federalism and Governor Bob Graham in the 1980s
• Chapter Eight (1.8 mb, PDF)
  “That Damn Sewer Ditch”: Kissimmee River Restoration Efforts, 1978-1988
• Chapter Nine (1 mb, PDF)
  Lake Okeechobee II: Science in a Race with Politics and Nature
• Chapter Ten (1.7 mb, PDF)
  Envelopes of Protection: Land Acquisition Programs in Florida, 1980- 1990
• Chapter Eleven (1.9 mb, PDF)
  Brewing Storm: Development, Water Supply, and the East Everglades
• Chapter Twelve (1 mb, PDF)
  The “Ultimate Hammer”: Dexter Lehtinen’s Lawsuit
• Chapter Thirteen (1.3 mb, PDF)
  A Broader Perspective: Ecosystem Restoration Becomes National Policy
• Chapter Fourteen (1.2 mb, PDF)
  Searching for Consensus: Sustainability and the Move Towards Everglades Restoration
• Chapter Fifteen (749 kb, PDF)
  Preserving Their Interests: The Seminole and Miccosukee Indians
• Chapter Sixteen (1.5 mb, PDF)
  A Laboratory for the Everglades: Kissimmee River Restoration in the 1990s
• Chapter Seventeen (1.2 mb, PDF)
  Conflicts and Difficulties: Water Distribution in the 1990s
• Chapter Eighteen (1.7 mb, PDF)
  Getting the Water Right: The Restudy and Enactment of CERP, 1996-2000
• Conclusion (677 kb, PDF)
• Acknowledgments (48 kb, PDF)
• Bibliography (124 kb, PDF)
• Biographical Information (46 kb, PDF)

Back to Top