Restoration of the Everglades begins in the vicinity of Orlando. The Okeechobee River drains into Lake Okeechobee, a lake with an average depth of . During the wet season when the lake exceeds its capacity, the water leaves the lake in a very wide and shallow river, approximately long and wide. This wide and shallow flow is known as "sheetflow". The land gradually slopes toward Florida Bay, the historical destination of most of the water leaving the Everglades. Before drainage attempts, the Everglades comprised , taking up a third of the Florida peninsula. Since the early 19th century the Everglades have been a subject
Lake Calabay Lake Calabay Lake Calabay is a manmade dredged freshwater lake in the residential community of Hunter's Creek, Florida, just inside the south border of Orange County, Florida. This lake was a somewhat swampy area prior to its construction about 1993. It was built as a feature for the Hunter's Creek development. Three different gated neighborhoods were built around Lake Calabay. To the east and north is Calabay Cove, with 104 homes constructed from 1993 to 1998. On the west is Montara, with twenty-four homes built between 1994 and 1996. On the south is Ashton, with thirty-four homes built between 1996