“…In 1998, much of the remaining levee was degraded to increase inflows into the wetland area south of S18C. On the west side of the study area, culverts beneath the Main Park Road allow surface water to exchange with the wetlands to the west, but flow measurements indicate the exchanges are minimal (Tillis, 2001;Stewart and others, 2002) A principal hydrologic feature in the study area is the Buttonwood Embankment-a nearly continuous ridge along the Florida Bay coastline. This ridge is observed to be about 0.3 m higher than the surrounding marsh, and was formed either by the buildup of organic detritus from the stands of mangrove forest or by sediment deposition from Florida Bay during periodic hurricanes and tropical storms (Holmes and others, 2000).…”