s, it can often leave too little water for some parts of the Everglades while also flooding other portions of Florida's famed River of Grass.
That's what is happening now in the water-conservation areas that stretch across western Broward and Miami-Dade. The water level there has hit 11.29 feet above sea level, about 1 foot higher than normal.
El Niño-driven rains this year have boosted water levels in the conservation areas and elsewhere, amplifying the harmful environmental effects on the Everglades from South Florida's flood-control system.
An El Niño weather pattern occurs when warming of the eastern Pacific results in a wetter winter for Florida.
As a result, Fort Lauderdale rainfall so far this year is nearly 5 inches above normal, during what is usually South Florida's dry season. West Palm Beach and Miami have had almost 7 inches more rainfall than normal, according to the National Weather Service office in Miami.
Rainier-than-usual conditions from the El Niño are expected to linger into April, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Chuck Caracozza.
Also, this week some of the highest tides of the year are forecast for South Florida, according to the water management district. That makes it harder to move more water from western Broward through canals and out to sea, Smith said.
Swells on the ocean Tuesday were already resulting in higher-than-usual water levels along the coast in Fort Lauderdale, Caracozza said.
High water levels in Everglades water conservation areas that stretch through Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties are adding to the South Florida water storage problems that reach all the way to Lake Okeechobee.
Rising water levels in the lake have raised concerns about the strain on the erosion-prone dike that protects lakeside communities and South Florida's sugar cane country from flooding.
To help protect the dike, the Army Corps of Engineers has been draining billions of gallons of water a day out of Lake Okeechobee to the east and west coasts – despite the potential damage to coastal fishing grounds.
Environmental advocates say that Everglades restoration remains the long-term solution to South Florida's flood control and water supply problems.
The state and federal government in 2000 launched a multibillion-dollar effort to build reservoirs and water-treatment areas that could get more water moving south to Everglades National Park, while also boosting South Florida drinking water supplies.
But funding delays, construction problems and political fights have bogged down Everglades restoration, leaving dozens of projects unfinished.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for including another $190 million in the 2017 federal budget for Everglades projects, though that would still need congressional approval.
"The big-picture solution has to be completing the [Everglades] restoration projects," said Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon Florida Director of Everglades Policy. "The need for that has never been more clear."
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