The Implications of Hydrology and Landscape Ecology on the Maintenance of Freshwater Wetland Ecosystems in Florida

Floridians have only recently recognized that surface water management is an issue of local, regional, and national significance, and that water is not an inexpensive resource to be rapidly drained from the land in preparation for development. Since the early 1970s, regulatory agencies, local governments, and environmental organizations in Florida and elsewhere have expended considerable effort to protect wetland habitats through acquisition and permitting programs.