CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER
Approximately 67 miles long and stretching across Florida’s Gulf Coast is the Caloosahatchee River. Once a shallow estuary, the Caloosahatchee River has been dredged and channelized to accommodate navigation, population growth, and agriculture. Located in Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Hendry counties the Caloosahatchee River is also a major resource for water supply to residents of the west coast of Florida.
The Caloosahatchee River is also currently in a state of ecological crisis, largely due to its historical reconfiguration for flood control releases from Lake Okeechobee and nutrient pollution from the urban and agricultural areas it surrounds. The Caloosahatchee also suffers from high salinity levels during prolonged dry periods, a condition to be alleviated by the building of the C-43 Reservoir.
Learn more about the Caloosahatchee River here.