Despite the damaging releases of polluted Lake O water down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie “rivers,” the water is piling up all over south Florida: in the Big Cypress, in the Water Conservation areas, and in Everglades National Park itself. According to a story in this morning’s Miami Herald, the water levels are threatening deer and other wildlife. Curtis Martin writes that “If the water doesn’t recede fast, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission warns deer and other denizens could die in potentially large numbers.”

After two years of drought, the rainy season this summer came through, in spades. And in the typical boom-and-bust scenario familiar to any student of Florida history, we’re now in a pickle. Without adequate water storage capacity, we have no choice but to release the water to tide, damaging our delicate estuarine ecosystems, and to shunt as much water as we can into the WCAs, threatening wildlife. What’s the solution? What could it possibly be? Well, 19 years ago, the solution was proposed: elevate the Tamiami trail to restore sheet flow to Everglades National Park.

The proposal has been, ahem, watered down from its original vision, but even the reduced skyway would be better than nothing. What are we waiting for?