High water levels in the Everglades have stranded animals on levees and tree islands, triggering emergency measures last week by water managers to drain flooded areas.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was allowed to change its water storage rules to temporarily allow for more water to be held in a conservation area west of Palm Beach and Broward counties through the fall and into the dry season.

The move will restrict water flowing into an area farther south where the water has risen nearly two feet above whats recommended for flora and fauna to survive. When water levels stay too high for too long, animals can drown and run out of food on the tree islands. Plants submerged under too much water can die for lack of sun.

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This buys us a little time, said John Campbell, a spokesman for the corps. We are seeing recession, and that is a promising sight, but we really need to get some extended dry weather.

A National Weather Service report released Thursday said preliminary data shows the past two months were the wettest June and July on record with an average of 23.45 inches of rain across a 16-county region managed by the South Florida Water Management District.

On Friday, the district announced it had installed three temporary pumps to reduce water levels. The pumps will run non-stop until the water is back to acceptable levels.

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Last weeks actions are the second time this summer officials were forced to make emergency changes to account for the high water levels caused by the heavy rainfall.

In June, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed reluctantly to allow water to be released from one area into another that was being used as a nesting ground for the nearly extinct Cape Sable seaside sparrow. There are between 2,000 and 3,000 endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrows left in the Everglades. If their population drops much below 300, they likely will become extinct. Sparrow nesting season ended mid-July.

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These kind of water management decisions are a distinctly Florida dilemma, born of mans reroute of the states natural plumbing that traditionally drained through channels around the sparrows, which nest on higher ground. The diversion from natural drainage also causes backups in the northern Everglades and Lake Okeechobee while areas to the south, such as Florida Bay, are dying from a lack of freshwater.

This is another example of why Everglades restoration needs to happen faster, USFWS state supervisor Larry Williams said last month.

In the bloated water conservation areas, threatened species include the snail kite, wood storks and indigo snakes. Threatened is a lower concern level than endangered, but still means a species is likely to become endangered in the future. More common wildlife such as deer and raccoon also suffer when there is too much water.

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Florida Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Alligator Ron Bergeron sent a detailed letter to the corps last week describing the conditions of animals marooned on the tree islands, levees and spoil islands.

He said huddled on higher ground, their preferred food sources are limited. They have less to eat, and eat less nutritious food, which increases stress.

Over time, fat reserves become exhausted and malnutrition and death will occur, Bergeron said. Extended duration high water conditions also have detrimental long-term effects on the essential foraging and nesting habitats of federally-listed species such as wood storks and snail kites.

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Everglades animals stranded and dying on tree islands - MyPalmBeachPost