Wlrn | Presents

Among the cow pastures and citrus groves of Florida's heartland north of Lake Okeechobee, patches of wetlands serve as kidneys for the Everglades. "It filters out all of the impurities, in this case we're talking about nutrients, phosphorous in particular," says Ernie Marks of the South Florida Water Management District. Marks steps through the grass framing the expanse of reeds and rushes. The vegetation sieves from the water the nutrient responsible for toxic algae blooms. Wading birds like egrets flap among the cabbage palms. Marks says more water storage is needed here north of the lake. New research suggests the river of grass historically was much wetter than previously thought and calls for additional storage throughout the Lake Okeechobee and Everglades regions. "The next natural step is to look to the north, and not only to look to the north because of the absence of storage that we currently have there. But having something to the north gives us ultimately flexibility where