 A pattern of political and financial motivation , and a lack of understanding of the geography and ecology of the Everglades have plagued the history of drainage projects . The Everglades are a part of a massive watershed that originates near Orlando and drains into Lake Okeechobee , a vast and shallow lake . As the lake exceeds its capacity in the wet season , the water forms a flat and very wide river , about 100 miles ( 160 km ) long and 60 miles ( 97 km ) wide . As the land from Lake Okeechobee slopes gradually to Florida Bay , water flows at a rate of half a mile ( 0 @.@ 8 km ) a day . Before human activity in the Everglades , the system comprised the lower third of the Florida peninsula . The first attempt to drain the region was made by real estate developer Hamilton Disston in 1881 . Disston 's sponsored canals were unsuccessful , but the land he purchased for them stimulated economic and population growth that attracted railway developer Henry Flagler . Flagler built a railroad along the east coast of Florida and eventually to Key West ; towns grew and farmland was cultivated along the rail line . 
