Sod field
Reclaimed Everglades
South Bay, FL 2012
South Florida development drives demand for sod. Run-off from sod and other fields, lawns, and golf courses contains phosphorus. Phosphorus in fertilizers and soils promotes plant growth, but when released into the Everglades it becomes a pollutant.
The Everglades is a naturally phosphorus-starved ecosystem, which will choke with vegetation and fundamentally transform unless the phosphorus concentration remains very low (the much debated target is 10 parts per billion).
Water quality remains a significant barrier to save both the Everglades ecosystem and wetlands around the world.