Here’s a short video clip of the S12A.
The S12s are the primary outlets for delivering water from the central Everglades into downstream Everglades National Park.
The S12s were opened to full capacity in the days following Fay, but Everglades sheetflow is a notorious “slow flow-er.” As a result, “sheetflow in waiting” has backed up on the north side of the levee (Tamiami Trail) to the tune of 4 feet deep.
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That’s shallow for a pool, but deep for a wetland!
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Through Sunday, around 400,000 acre feet of water has discharged through the S12s for the first 9 months of this year. Compare that to 700,000 acre feet for the first nine months of 2005 and 1,300,000 acre feet for 1995 through September.
What’s a bunch of acre-feet you may ask?
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Lake Okeechobee holds around 5 million acre feet when its filled up to the base of its perimeter levee. Colorado River’s Lake Mead holds around 28 million acre feet when its full, but it currently down around 100 ft and at half that capacity.
Here’s a photograph of S12B, located a few miles down the road from S12A, right next to the park’s Shark Valley entrance. Shark Valley’s prized feature is a tram ride that twists and turns several miles to the south, into the park’s inner heart, where there is a scenic tower for your viewing pleasure.
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What’s the saying: “it’s always the journey, not the destination.”
That applies with the Shark Valley Tower … because it’s along the tram where you see all the wildlife.
But personally, I just love looking at the water: Here’s some old video footage of the S12D back earlier this spring.
