Wildfires continued to burn across an unusually parched stretch of Everglades National Park Monday after blazes briefly shut down the Shark Valley Visitor center over the weekend.
All but the largest fire was under control by Monday afternoon. The Chipmunk Fire, southwest of the visitor center which reopened by afternoon, continued to burn and was about 60% contained. The fires all started naturally, likely by lightning, and were fanned by winds and extreme drought conditions.
More than three months into the rainy season, this year’s withering drought has slightly eased for other parts of South Florida. But central Everglades marshes, where the fires ignited, remain in unusual extreme drought conditions.
The contours of the drought closely follow the boundaries of Shark River Slough, the shallow channel that historically connected rainy season water overflowing from Lake Okeechobee to its southern end.
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But this year’s drought has left lake water low, triggering shortage conditions and tumbling the ecological dominos. South of the lake, water in the sprawling conservation area west of Miami-Dade County and north of the park has been persistently low, according to the South Florida Water Management District.
That has increased fire risk, along with other impacts, in the Everglades.
Everglades wading birds have had less prey to feed their young. Salinity levels in Florida Bay, which gets freshwater from the Everglades, has also remained high in the western and central regions, and above thresholds for what’s healthy.
According to the district’s most recent update last week, bay-wide salinity levels remain well above average. If the past is any indication, they say, that could trigger seagrass die-offs if temperatures remain high and rainfall low.
