Hillsboro Canal

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Hillsboro Canal at Boca Raton Hillsboro Canal.jpg
Hillsboro Canal at Boca Raton

The Hillsboro Canal is located in the southeastern portion of Florida within the South Florida Water Management District, and for much of its length forms the border between Broward and Palm Beach counties; however, its western end was entirely in Palm Beach County, until being recently annexed to Broward County-Parkland, FL . It begins at Lake Okeechobee at the S-2 water control structure in South Bay west of Belle Glade, Florida. [1] [2] It passes within the southern border of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and flows southeast from there along Loxahatchee Road in a rural, lightly populated area. When it reaches the more heavily built-up region further east, it bends to head due eastward, forming the county line. Near its eastern end at the Intracoastal Waterway, with Boca Raton to the north and Deerfield Beach to the south, it departs from its straight course to go around several curves, but the county boundary continues to follow it at this point. 10 miles of the canal is navigable, and it is popular for recreational boating and fishing.

Florida State of the United States of America

Florida is the southernmost contiguous state in the United States. The state is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida. Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U.S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Miami metropolitan area is Florida's most populous urban area. Tallahassee is the state's capital.

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is a regional governmental agency that oversees water resources from Orlando to the Florida Keys. The mission of the SFWMD is to manage and protect water resources by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems and water supply, covering 16 counties in Central and Southern Florida. It is the largest water management district in the state, managing water needs for 7.7 million residents. A key initiative is the restoration of America's Everglades – the largest environmental restoration project in the nation's history. The District is also working to improve the Kissimmee River and its floodplain, Lake Okeechobee and South Florida's coastal estuaries.

Broward County, Florida County in Florida ----

Broward County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. According to a 2017 census report, the county had a population of 1,935,878, making it the second-most populous county in Florida and the 15th-most populous county in the United States. The county seat is Fort Lauderdale.

Restoration of the Everglades efforts include treatment to remove elevated levels of nutrients. As a part of this restoration effort, Hillsboro Canal flow was diverted at the Loxahatchee Refuge in 2001 to a wetland stormwater treatment area, STA-2, which discharges into Water Conservation Area 2.

Restoration of the Everglades

The restoration of the Everglades is an ongoing effort to remedy damage inflicted on the environment of southern Florida during the 20th century. It is the most expensive and comprehensive environmental repair attempt in history. The degradation of the Everglades became an issue in the United States in the early 1970s after a proposal to construct an airport in the Big Cypress Swamp. Studies indicated the airport would have destroyed the ecosystem in South Florida and Everglades National Park. After decades of destructive practices, both state and federal agencies are looking for ways to balance the needs of the natural environment in South Florida with urban and agricultural centers that have recently and rapidly grown in and near the Everglades.

Coordinates: 26°19′40″N80°06′27″W / 26.327869°N 80.107451°W / 26.327869; -80.107451

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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Palm Beach County, Florida County in the United States

Palm Beach County is a county in the state of Florida that is directly north of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,320,134, making it the third-most populous county in Florida. The largest city and county seat is West Palm Beach. Named after one of its oldest settlements, Palm Beach, the county was established in 1909, after being split from Dade County. The county's modern-day boundaries were established in 1963.

Everglades natural region of tropical wetlands in Florida, United States

The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin and part of the neotropic ecozone. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades experience a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. The Seminole Tribe gave the large body of water the name Okeechobee meaning "River of Grass" to describe the sawgrass marshes, part of a complex system of interdependent ecosystems that include cypress swamps, the estuarine mangrove forests of the Ten Thousand Islands, tropical hardwood hammocks, pine rockland, and the marine environment of Florida Bay.

Hillsboro Beach, Florida Town in Florida

Hillsboro Beach, officially known as the Town of Hillsboro Beach, is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,981 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a 147,392-acre (596.47 km2) wildlife sanctuary is located west of Boynton Beach, in Palm Beach County, Florida. It includes the most northern remnant of the historic Everglades wetland ecosystem.

Picayune Strand State Forest

Picayune Strand State Forest is one of 37 state forests in Florida managed by the Florida Forest Service. The 78,000-acre forest consists primarily of cypress swamps, wet pine flatwoods and wet prairies. It also features a grid of closed roads over part of it, left over from its previous land development schemes.

Lake Worth Lagoon lake of the United States of America

The Lake Worth Lagoon is a lagoon located in Palm Beach County, Florida. It runs parallel to the coast, and is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier beaches, including Palm Beach Island. The lagoon is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by two permanent, man-made inlets.

The Miami Canal, or C-6 Canal, flows from Lake Okeechobee in the U.S. state of Florida to its terminus at the Miami River, which flows through downtown Miami. The canal flows in a south and southeasterly direction for approximately 77 miles, and passes through three counties: Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade. It was constructed in the early part of the 20th century to drain the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).

Lake Worth Inlet

The Palm Beach Inlet, also known as the Lake Worth Inlet is an artificial cut through a barrier island connecting the northern part of the Lake Worth Lagoon in Palm Beach County, Florida with the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by the town of Palm Beach on the south, and by the town of Palm Beach Shores to the north. The inlet is also the entrance channel for the Port of Palm Beach. Its coordinates are 26°46′20″N80°02′14″W.

Biscayne Aquifer

The Biscayne Aquifer, named after Biscayne Bay, is a surficial aquifer. It is a shallow layer of highly permeable limestone under a portion of South Florida. The area it underlies includes Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Monroe County, and Palm Beach County, a total of about 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2).

The former State Road 827, locally known as Browns Farm Road in Palm Beach County and Loxahatchee Road in Broward County, was an east–west road that stretched 35 miles (56 km) along the southern edge of the Hillsboro Canal, originally extending from Sixmile Bend to present-day Parkland. When the route was established in 1945, it extended from its northwestern terminus, being what is now County Road 880 to its southeastern terminus being an intersection with US 441 in Broward County.

State Road 810 (SR 810), locally known as Hillsboro Boulevard, is an east–west street serving northern Broward County, Florida. The western terminus of SR 810 is an intersection with US 441–SR 7 on the city line between Coconut Creek and Parkland, and the eastern terminus is at an intersection with Ocean Drive (SR A1A) in Deerfield Beach. Within Deerfield Beach, Hillsboro Boulevard forms the axis separating the north and south sections of the street numbering system. The road is within one mile (1.6 km) south of neighboring Palm Beach County throughout its entire route.

Loxahatchee Groves, Florida Place in Florida, United States

Loxahatchee Groves is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. As of 2017, the town had a population of 3,528 according to an estimate by the United States Census Bureau. Loxahatchee Groves was incorporated November 1, 2006, as the 38th municipality in Palm Beach County. The first election for town council members was held on March 13, 2007. Although Loxahatchee Groves did not become a municipality until 2006, the area had been settled since 1917. Billing itself as "Florida's Last Frontier", Loxahatchee Groves was primarily incorporated to better protect the area from encroaching urbanization as nearby cities continued to develop and to preserve the area's rural character.

Arthur Raymond Marshall Jr. (1919–1985) was a scientist and Everglades conservationist who spearheaded efforts to preserve Florida’s wetlands.

Environment of Florida

The environment of Florida in the United States yields an array of land and marine life in a mild subtropical climate. This environment has drawn millions of people to settle in the once rural state over the last hundred years. Florida's population increases by about 1,000 residents each day. Land development and water use have transformed the state, primarily through drainage and infill of the wetlands that once covered most of the peninsula.

Draining and development of the Everglades

The history of draining and development of the Everglades dates back to the 19th century. A national push for expansion and progress toward the latter part of the 19th century stimulated interest in draining the Everglades for agricultural use. According to historians, "From the middle of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, the United States went through a period in which wetland removal was not questioned. Indeed, it was considered the proper thing to do."

Water Conservation Area 1

Water Conservation Area 1 (WCA-1) also known as the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, includes 227 square-miles of Everglades wetland habitat, is part of the Everglades Protection Area, and is the last remaining intact portion of the Northern Everglades system. Bordering the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) to the west and the urban communities of Palm Beach County to the east, the conservation area contains over 145,000 acres of Everglades wetland habitat. Owned by the state, WCA-1 is currently managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and provides an area specified for recreation, wildlife population maintenance and habitat management and restoration.

References

  1. ↑ Cooper, C. M., M., R., and Roy, J. (1991). "An atlas of surface water management basins in the Everglades: The Water Conservation Areas and Everglades National Park." DRE 300, South Florida Water Management District,, West Palm Beach, Florida.
  2. ↑ Light, S. S., and Dineen, W. J. (1994). "Water control in the Everglades: A historical perspective." Everglades: The ecosystem and its restoration, S. M. Davis and J. C. Ogden, eds., St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL, 47-84.
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