Everglades National Park was authorized a national park by US Congress in 1934 and covers 1.5 Million acres and 2,350 square miles. Since then it has been heavily altered by an intricate series of canals, levees, and drainage systems in an attempt to drain the landscape for development. Approved by Congress, these SFWMD projects are meant to mitigate the hydrologic challenges and return the landscape back to its previous state.