Corkscrew SIGHTINGS: High water levels at the sanctuary mean the swamp is doing its job




The cypress canopy has turned brown from wind but will green again in spring.

The cypress canopy has turned brown from wind but will green again in spring.

Hurricane Ian broke rainfall records across Florida and resulted in surface waters reaching nearly historic levels at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The sanctuary received 5.8 inches of rainfall over the four days of the storm, making 2022 the second rainiest September in the sanctuary’s 63-year rainfall record.

The Sanctuary’s “B Gauge,” a staff gauge located along the boardwalk at the North Lettuce Lake, has allowed volunteers and staff to collect daily water-level data for 67 years and provides the most complete long-term water-level data set in our area. Water levels at the B Gauge have exceeded the 4-foot mark only five times in the sanctuary’s history, each time associated with a major tropical event: 1960 with Hurricane Donna, 1995 with Tropical Storm Jerry (followed by Hurricane Opal the same year), 2008 with Tropical Storm Fay, 2017 with Hurricane Irma, and 2022 with Hurricane Ian.

The peak water level following Hurricane Ian (4.18 feet) was remarkably similar to the peak water level seen after Hurricane Irma (4.17 feet) just five years ago, both falling short of the all-time high-water mark of 4.47 feet seen in 1995.

Data loggers recorded near-record high water levels in the sanctuary immediately following the storm, but water levels have been slowly dropping as the inland fresh water moves toward our estuaries and coast.

Rainwater is helpful, too. Wetlands within Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary protect habitat and local communities from flooding.

They not only hold rainwater during severe weather events, but also remove nutrients from surface water, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in our community, and provide habitat to many of our threatened and thriving wading birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals that call these wetlands home. Wetlands also enable this surface water to percolate down and recharge freshwater aquifers below ground. As Southwest Florida continues to develop, wetlands like those in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary will become increasingly critical to our quality of life.

See these important wetland ecosystems for yourself. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the 2.25-mile-long boardwalk are open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the last admission at 1 p.m. Learn more at corkscrew.audubon.org.