Geography and ecology of the Everglades is nourished primarily from the atmosphere. Before the first attempt at draining the Everglades in 1882, the entire watershed extended from Orlando to Florida Bay comprising the Kissimmee–Lake Okeechobee–Everglades (KLOE) watershed. Kissimmee River outlets flow into Lake Okeechobee, which sits above sea level. Only two seasons exist in the Everglades: wet (May to November) and dry (December to April). Average annual rainfall in the Everglades is approximately , though fluctuations of precipitation are normal. Droughts, floods, and tropical storms are normal occurrences in the area. When Lake Okeechobee exceeds its water storage capacity during the wet season, it pours slowly
Miami River (Florida) to improve the river's condition. Although it is widely believed that the name is derived from a Native American word that means "sweet water", the earliest mention of the name comes from Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a captive of Indians in southern Florida for 17 years, when he referred to what is now Lake Okeechobee as the "Lake of Mayaimi, which is called Mayaimi because it is very large". The Mayaimi Indians were named after the lake, beside which they lived. Spanish records include the cacique of "Maimi" in a group of 280 Florida Indians that arrived in Cuba in