District (SFWMD) canal-levee L-31. 

 The area is bounded on the northwest 

 by the delineation of a hydrologic 

 boundary between the lower Ever- 

 glades and the Big Cypress Basin. 

 The southwestern boundary begins 

 approximately 13 km (8 mi) south of 

 Tamiami Trail on SFWMD canal-levee 

 L-31 and runs southwest to the vi- 

 cinity of Flamingo on Florida Bay. 

 This somewhat hazy line follows 

 State Road 27. 



The Taylor Slough/Florida Bay 

 segment is bounded on the east by 

 SFWMD canal-levee L-31 W and on the 

 southeast by U.S. Highway 1. To the 

 south the intracoastal waterway, 

 which doubles as the southern bound- 

 ary of Everglades National Park, 

 forms a convenient physiographic 

 marker between the present segment 

 and the Florida Keys. The park 

 boundary from Long Key northwest to 

 East Cape Sable forms the gulf-side 

 boundary of this segment. 



The third segment, the Florida 

 Keys, forms a gradually arching 

 chain of islands extending from the 

 southeastern tip of the Florida 

 peninsula (Soldiers Key just south 

 of Miami Beach) southwestward to the 

 Dry Tortugas, a distance of approxi- 

 mately 376 km (234 mi). The arc is 

 bounded on the convex side by the 

 Atlantic Ocean and the Straits of 

 Florida, and on the concave side by 

 Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. 



Throughout this report the 

 study area in Figure 1 is often 

 referred to as a "watershed" though 

 it does not readily conform to the 

 classic model of a distinct hydro- 

 logic unit. Historically, this 

 watershed once incorporated the 

 entire 22,500 km 2 (8,688 mi 2 ) of 

 the Kissimmee River Basin north of 

 Lake Okeechobee. The effective 

 drainage area of the watershed has 

 decreased significantly, however, as 



a result of hydrologic modifications 

 of the Kissimmee, the drainage of 

 the Everglades south of the lake, 

 and the construction of dikes and 

 levees surrounding the lake. The 

 drainage area from Lake Okeechobee 

 to the Gulf of Mexico is now esti- 

 mated to be around 2,059 km 2 

 (795 mi 2 ) (Browder and Moore 

 1980). For our purposes, however, 

 we consider the "watershed" to be 

 only that portion which is relative- 

 ly untouched by direct physical 

 modifications. The boundaries of 

 this area correspond in large part 

 to those of the Everglades National 

 Park. In addition, the fact that 

 much of the freshwater used on the 

 Florida Keys originates from the 

 hydrologic budget of the lower Ever- 

 glades necessitates that the keys 

 also be considered a part of the 

 watershed. 



1.3 ENERGY AND MATERIALS 



FLOW THROUGH THE COASTAL 

 WATERSHED 



The hydrologic boundaries of 

 watersheds form distinct, though 

 somewhat amorphous "membranes" 

 across which considerable energy and 

 materials flow. Within these bound- 

 aries, various forms of energy and 

 matter are constantly being tapped, 

 transformed, and modified to yield a 

 wide range of products including 

 fish and wildlife as well as indus- 

 trial and agricultural goods. These 

 processes and pathways of production 

 and consumption within the watershed 

 are collectively responsible for 

 what we call "watershed metabolism." 



In addressing watersheds as 

 living metabolic units, we concern 

 ourselves with two broad categories 

 of work being performed within their 

 boundaries: (1) inorganically medi- 

 ated work; and (2) biologically 

 mediated work. 



