The initial restoration is a barren, ugly site, but Toth said that will not last. Already, there are signs of vegetation where the initial section of channel has been filled. And the plug in the canal has forced water back in the old river channels and across marshes that have been dry for a half century. Those old channels, which were clogged with vegetation and silt as a result of lack of flow, are showing signs of healing. The current has cleared them.
Birds are everywhere.
Toth said demolition of the locks and flood control structure between pools B and C is scheduled in July. That will connect the area now being restored with an area that was restored during a demonstration project in 1994. Meanwhile, the Corps is cutting some new channels to re-create portions of the river obliterated by the spoil banks. But it is impossible to distinguish the new sections from the old. The initial section being filled is part of the boundary between Highlands and Okeechobee counties.