Lake Okeechobee ("Big Water" in native Seminole language) is that large blue circle in the middle of the map of Florida, and the 5th largest lake totally within the U.S. I've always been curious about it, thinking it was like Lake St. Clair or Lake Simcoe back home --- they're all about the same surface area, and roundish. So we drove the 2 hours up to see it and walk part of the Florida Trail around it. Instead, we got a lesson on local agriculture and water management.
Lake O has been the headwaters of the Florida Everglades since the ocean receded a billion years ago. But hundreds of square miles around it have been drained, scraped clear of plants and animals, and planted in ---- sugar cane!! A crop that can be had much cheaper from nearby Cuba (Canada's main sugar source), but that would mean dealing with that wicked Fidel Castro!
The lake is now severly "managed" by a mammoth earthen dike all around the 100-mile circumference. A deep moat is in place inside the dike, which creates a 15 foot deep water circle to draw on to irrigate crops. That leaves the lake itself with between 1 and 12 feet of water, mostly grown over with plants that sprout in dry season when the original lake bed is almost empty. There have been attempts to reduce the cane fields but to no avail politically. If you have Domino sugar or Karo syrup in your home (U.S. only), it probably came from here. The crop grows year-round in ancient black silt.
One benefit of the "management" is the abundance of birds nesting and feeding within sight of the wide recreational trail. But don't expect swimmers, boaters, or even water views. I give Lake OkeechoB itself a B-.
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