Background

Soils, Geology and Water Control in the Everglades Region

Bulletin No. 442
March, 1948

(162 pages, plus maps)

University of Florida
Agricultural Experimental Station
Harold Mowry, Director
Gainesville, Florida

In cooperation with
United States Department of Agriculture
Soil Conservation Service
H. H. Bennett, Chief

Prepared under the direction of
Lewis A. Jones, Chief
Division of Drainage and Water Control
Soil Conservation Service

Contents [condensed]

Scope of Investigation and Report ... 6
History of the Everglades Drainage District ... 8
Area Surveyed ... 15
Agriculture ... 18
Geology and Ground Water of the Everglades Region ... 21
Climate ... 42
Vegetation ... 46
Topographic Survey ... 49
The Soil Conservation Survey ... 55
Water Conditions in the Everglades Region ... 77
Water Control Recommendations ... 97
Cost Summary ... 133
Maintenance of Water Control Works .. . 135
Recommendations for Land Use and Management ... 135
Bibliography ... 166

(Excerpt from pages 6-7)

Studies relating to water control for agricultural lands in the Everglades region of Florida have been carried on continuously since 1933 under cooperative agreements between the Agricultural Experimental Station of the University of Florida and the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Everglades Project of the Soil Conservation Service was set up in 1929 under specific appropriation of $75,000 by congress (in Public Act No. 159, 76th Congress) for research and demonstration work in soil conservation in the Everglades region. This bulletin is a report on that project.

[The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) was established by the Soil Conservation Act of April 27, 1935. The Bureau of Agricultural Engineering became part of it in 1939. The Soil Erosion Service, predecessor to the Soil Conservation Service, was created in 1933 as a temporary agency under the National Industrial Recovery Act.]

The investigations undertaken include a topographic survey, a soil conservation survey to determine the various types of land in the Everglades Drainage District and their capabilities, subsurface investigations of rock structure and ground water as related to control of water in the soil, and studies of the requirements of the Everglades soils with respect to drainage and irrigation and the effects of water control on the soil. The topographic survey had not been completed when this report was prepared, because of extended ware service by a number of the engineers of the project staff.

The subsurface investigations were made in collaboration with scientists of the U. S. Geological Survey. The soil names used were correlated by the Bureau of Plant Industries, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering. All activities of the project have been conducted under cooperative agreements between the Agricultural Station and Soil Conservation Service. The results of the research are presented herein only as they affect the use capabilities of the various land types and the water-control measures discussed.

This report presents  (1) a brief history of the efforts by the State of Florida to develop the Everglades; (2) descriptions of the physical, agricultural, and climatic conditions of the area; (3) information on the rock formation and geologic history of the region; (4) descriptions of the various land types (soil, slope, substratum conditions), together with a classification of their use capability; (5) a statement of the extent, character, and effectiveness of the water-control works that have been provided by the Everglades Drainage District; (6) a tentative plan of water-control  improvement for the organic soils of agricultural value south and east of Lake Okeechobee; and (7) recommendations concerning crops and farming practices for the different types of land.

Water Conditions in the Everglades Region
Sources and Quality of Water

(Excerpt from pages 77 - 78)

The water in the Everglades region comes mostly from precipitation with the region, which averages 54 inches per year (see Table 3), and that upon Lake Okeechobee drainage basin (Fig. 3) which averages about 51 inches. The quantity of flow into the region through sub-surface aquifers is negligible so far as it will affect the general plan of water control. However, in the lower Everglades, and in some places even in the upper 'Glades, ditches or wells penetrating the underlying rock may release sufficient flow to increase materially the amount of pumping required for drainage.

Lake Okeechobee receives the surface flow from some 4,700 square miles lying to the west and north, about three-fourths of which drains through the Kissimmee River. (The divides are very poorly defined in places, being so flat that there may be drainage across them in either direction according to the distribution of recent rainfall.) Before drainage of the Everglades was begun the only outlet for flood water from the lake was by overflow along the southern shore, which occurred at lake elevation of about 20 feet above mean sea level. The low portion of the lake rim now has subsided to about elevation 15. Levees and control works constructed and operated by the War Department hold the lake level generally between elevation 12.6 and 15.6. There are indication of an isolated area of fairly permeable rocks underlying about half of Lake Okeechobee and nearby lands to the south and east, perhaps 25 feet thick and encountered at a depth of 12 to 30 feet. The water from this section contains as much as 4,000 to 5,000 parts per million of total solids, chlorides running as high as 1,500 and sulphates 500 parts per million.

Personnel

This report has been prepared under cooperative agreement between the Agricultural Experimental State of the University of Florida, and the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, with informal cooperation of staff members of the Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, and of the Everglades Drainage District.

The officials and technologies who have had responsible part in planning and conducting the investigation, analyzing the data and formulating the conclusion presented herein, comprise the following:

Agricultural Experimental Station

R. V. Allison, Vice-Director in Charge, Everglades Experiment Station
G. D. Ruehle, Vice-Director in Charge, Subtropical Experiment Station
J. R. Neller, Soil Chemist
J. R. Henderson, Soil Technologist

Soil Conservation Service

Lewis A Jones, Division of Drainage and Water Control
Roger D. Marsden, Head, Farm Drainage Section
J. G. Steele, Head, Surveys Analysis Section
C. Kay Davis, Project Supervisor, Everglades Project (Resigned)
B. S. Clayton, Drainage Engineer
John C. Stephens, Drainage Engineer
M. H. Gallatin, Soil Scientist
Albert R. Stephens, Drainage Engineer (Resigned)

U. S. Geological Survey

George E. Fergeuson, Hydraulic Engineer
Garald G. Parker, Geologist in Charge, Miami, Fla.

Everglades Drainage District

W. Turner Wallis, Engineer and General Manager
Lamar Johnson, Engineer