Egrets in dome

Egrets perched at a cypress dome, eyeing fish being corralled into increasingly smaller and smaller pools of water as water levels do their annual disappearing act out of the wet prairies and into the cypress domes and strands.

Gators on log

Gators are a common site along the 25 miles scenic journey down Big Cypress National Preserve's Loop Road. Loop Road was Monroe's portion of the original attempt to build the Tamiami Trail. When Barron Collier took control of the effort he connected the Naples to Miami roadway to the north through Collier County. Monroes section was completed a few years later to form Loop Road.

Ortona spillway

Caloosahatchee's S78 Ortona Dam in action in mid October 2008.

Moore Haven spillway

The S77 is the modern day headwater source of the Caloosahatchee River. It feeds flows from Lake Okeechobee into the river. The lock next to the dam provides navigational access from coast to coast across Florida between Ft Myers and Stuart.

Ortona lock

Tailwater doors at the Ortona lock are opened to allow a boat to pass downstream. Special sensors on the locks help protect manatees. Seven feet of water was released from the chamber to drop the boat to tailwater river stage.

Bridge 66

The hydrostation at Bridge 66 is located along US41 in Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. Its data record extends back to the early 1990s, and was recently renovated by the SFWMD so it can be tracked remotely using telemetry.

Rainy Season's last sigh

Summer showers are nearing an end. Here's a photo of a recent cumulonimbus incus cloud rising in the east, heading towards Naples

Boardwalk at Corkscrew

A recent rise in water levels makes bid to end the "Year without a Wet Season" on a soggy note

Shark Valley Tower

The viewing tower at the end of Everglades National Park's Shark Valley Tram is a great place to view the vast sweep of the Everglades. Wetland water atage in Shark River Slough is at a 17-yr September low-water mark due to below average rainfall and upstream discharges through the S12 structures.

Raccoon Point

Raccoon Point is located in Big Cypress National Preserve just a few miles from the L28 levee, the eastern limit of Water Conservation Area 3A. Big Cypress National Park Service and the South Florida Water Management District cooperatively maintain the hydrologic monitoring station in the background.

Alligator Alley

Aerial view of I75 looking north in the 35 mile reach that it passes Big Cypress National Preserve. I75 was built over SR84, dubbed "Alligator Alley", in the 1980s. Culverts, bridges, and spreader canals were added make the road corridor "invisible" to flow.

Bridge 105

This photo shows an aerial view of the Tamiami Trail looking south, in the eastern portion of Big Cypress National Preserve, at Bridge 105. Bridge 105 contains the oldest hydrologic monitoring station in the preserve, with a period of record beginning in the 1950s shortly after the establishment of downstream Everglades National Park.

S335

This photo was taken at the S335 water control structure near Dade Corners, looking upstream along the L30 canal. The levee on the right side of the photo forms the eastern edge of Water Conservation Area 3B.

S12D

This photo was taken on the downstream end of the S12D water control structure. The four S12 gates (A-D) feed water down into Everglades National Park. Flows have yet to materialize this summer due to unseasonably low water levels in upstream Water Conservation Area 3A.