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
Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida where St. Luke's Cathedral is located, is the see city of the diocese. The diocese includes 15 counties, as follows: Brevard, Citrus, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Marion, Polk, Seminole, St. Lucie, Sumter and Volusia. In 1969 the Diocese of Central Florida, the Diocese of Southeast Florida, and the Diocese of Southwest Florida were created out of a division of the large Diocese of South Florida. Bishop Henry I. Louttit, Bishop of South Florida presided over the primary Conventions of each new diocese for the purpose of electing their Diocesan Bishops. The two Suffragan Bishops of South