5-Journalism31
Lake Okeechobee Day1. .Cattails and sawgrass sway as fishermen slice across the still waters of.Lake Okeechobee recently. Decades of managing the lake for water supply.and flood control, without regard for fisheries and bird habitat, have.left the water body in dismal environmental condition. Hurricanes in.2004 and 2005 sent water rushing down the Kissimmee River, pouring.record amounts of algae-causing nitrogen and phosphorous into the lake..The liquid heart of Florida sits in the center of the largest ecosystem.restoration project in the world. Its health dictates the health of the.Everglades, and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries..Erik Kellar/Staff