The dike is about 140 miles long and about 35 feet high. The town of Taylor Creek is located along the northern border of Lake Okeechobee. Structure S-193, the navigation lock structure seen here, is used for flood control purposes and boating access to the lake. Nearby urban dwellings rely on the Herbert Hoover Dike and control structures like this one for water supply and protection from flooding. This gated structure controls water flow, from the north, into Lake Okeechobee.
Gates can either hold water in or let water out.
Lake Okeechobee is seen to the right. Cormorants use their hooked beak for grasping prey, usually fish. They have webbed feet that quickly propel the bird both on surface waters and underwater. The Port Mayaca Lock is one of many locks along the 152-mile Okeechobee Waterway that connects Florida's coasts. The waterway consists of Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie Canal on the Lake's Eastern Shore and the Caloosahatchee River on the Lake's Western Shore.