Caloosahatchee River

The river issues from Lake Hicpochee, in southeastern Glades County, approximately {{convert|10|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} west of Clewiston. It flows west-southwest past LaBelle, where it becomes tidal, forming an estuary along its lower {{convert|25|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}. It broadens as it nears the gulf, passing Fort Myers and Cape Coral. It enters the Gulf of Mexico {{convert|10|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} southwest of Fort Myers in San Carlos Bay, protected by Sanibel Island.

The {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} C-43 Caloosahatchee Canal connecting Lake Hicpochee to Lake Okeechobee allows continuous navigation from the Caloosahatchee to the Okeechobee Waterway system; oxbow lakes mark isolated stretches of the original waterway.{{Cite web |url=https://www.visitfortmyers.com/blueway-articles/caloosahatchee-river |title=Betsey Clayton, "Navigating the Caloosahatchee River". |access-date=2013-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918125157/http://calusablueway.com/articles/navigating-caloosahatchee-river |archive-date=2010-09-18 |url-status=dead }} In 2013, heavy rains in southern Florida resulted in high runoff into Lake Okeechobee; rising lake levels forced the United States Army Corps of Engineers to release large volumes of polluted water from the lake through the St. Lucie River estuary to the east and the Caloosahatchee River estuary to the west. Thus, the normal mix of fresh and salt water in those estuaries was replaced by a flood of polluted fresh water resulting in ecological damage.{{cite news|title=In South Florida, a Polluted Bubble Ready to Burst|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/us/lake-okeechobee-in-florida-a-polluted-bubble-ready-to-burst.html|access-date=September 9, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 8, 2013|author=Lizette Alvarez}}

Until late in the 19th century, the Caloosahatchee River was fed by a series of lakes starting from Lake Hicpochee, and including Lettuce Lake, Bonnet Lake and Flirt Lake. A waterfall and set of rapids at the lower end of Flirt Lake marked the beginning of the river. The rapids were close to {{convert|1|mi|km}} long, with a drop in elevation of about {{convert|10|ft|m}}. Lake Hicpochee, about {{convert|9,000|acre|ha}} in area, was only {{convert|3|mi|km}} from Lake Okeechobee, but there was no connection between the two lakes before the late 19th century. Water flowed from Lake Hicpochee westward into Lettuce Lake and then Bonnet Lake. When the water was high, the two lakes merged. From Bonnet Lake, water flowed into Lake Flirt, which was about {{convert|1,000|acre|ha}} in area and {{convert|5|mi|km}} long. All of the lakes were surrounded by extensive wetlands.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KeKDQAAQBAJ&q=lake+lettuce+caloosahatchee&pg=PT291|title=The Everglades Handbook: Understanding the Ecosystem|last=Lodge|first=Thomas E.|publisher=CRC Press|year=1994|isbn=9781498742955|edition=4|chapter=The Caloosahatchee: Historic Condition}}

In 1881, Hamilton Disston, as part of a scheme to drain large areas of wetlands in the interior of Florida, had a canal dredged from Lake Okeechobee to Lake Hicpochee and through the lakes and wetlands to the west. His company removed the rock ledge that formed the falls and rapids below Lake Flirt and straightened the upper reaches of the Caloosahatchee River. Various state and federal projects have widened and deepened the river since then.{{Cite web|url=http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgpm02003/flsgpm02003_part2b.pdf|title=Dredging History of Southwest Florida Inland Waterways|website=National Sea Grant Library|access-date=July 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041223173937/http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgpm02003/flsgpm02003_part2b.pdf|archive-date=December 23, 2004|url-status=dead}} The conversion of the Caloosahatchee River into a canal drained Lake Flirt and the wetlands descending from Lake Hicpochee.{{Cite journal|last=Wheeler|first=Ryan J.|date=December 1995|title=The Ortona Canals: Aboriginal Canal Hydraulics and Engineering|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00027829/00041/42j|journal=The Florida Anthropologist|volume=48|issue=4|pages=266, 270|via=University of Florida Digital Collection}}

Since the late 19th century, dredging and channelization of the river, as well as the artificial connection to Lake Okeechobee and its use as a water supply for urban and agricultural uses, have substantially altered the hydrology of the river. As a result, both the magnitude and timing of water delivery to the estuary have been substantially altered. Recent programs by the state government have attempted to establish minimum flow levels in the river, in part to help restore the water supply to the Everglades. A federal wildlife refuge for manatees has been established at the mouth of the river on San Carlos Bay near Fort Myers.

The following is a list of bridge crossings of the Caloosahatchee River and Canal

Image:USACE Ortona Lock and Dam.jpg|Ortona Lock and Dam on the Caloosahatchee River, part of the Okeechobee Waterway, in Glades County, Florida

Image:CaloosahatcheeRiver.JPG|Seminole Gulf Railway spans the Caloosahatchee River near Tice, Florida.

Image:Midpoint Bridge From Horton Park & Boat Ramp.jpg|The Midpoint Memorial Bridge spanning the river and connecting the cities of Cape Coral and Fort Myers (2008).

• South Atlantic-Gulf Water Resource Region

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040718084632/http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/wsd/mfl/calmfl/ South Florida Water Management District: Caloosahatchee River and Estuary]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040718075329/http://www.gulfbase.org/bay/view.php?bid=caloosahatchee GulfBase.org: Caloosahatchee River]
• [http://northflorida.fws.gov/Manatee/Maps/lee-overview.htm USFWS: Caloosahatchee River-San Carlos Bay Federal Manatee Refuge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050511112458/http://northflorida.fws.gov/Manatee/Maps/lee-overview.htm |date=2005-05-11 }}
• [http://crca.caloosahatchee.org Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association (Riverwatch)]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090715050754/http://www.protectingourwater.org/watersheds/map/caloosahatchee/ Caloosahatchee River Watershed - Florida DEP]}}

{{Rivers of Florida}}

{{Everglades}}

{{Coord|26.5170225|-82.0331467|display=title}}

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Category:Rivers of Florida

Category:Intracoastal Waterway

Category:Drainage basins of the Gulf of Mexico

Category:Bodies of water of Hendry County, Florida

Category:Bodies of water of Glades County, Florida

Category:Rivers of Lee County, Florida

Category:Canals in Florida

Category:Lake Okeechobee

Category:Fort Myers, Florida