Everglades’ thirst quencher

The nation’s largest sugarcane producer is going out of business, and Florida’s Everglades National Park is about to get a whole lot bigger. United States Sugar has six years to keep farming before turning over 187,000 acres north of Everglades National Park. Florida is paying the company $1.75 billion for what is the state’s biggest land acquisition ever.

The deal could restore the natural flow of water to the Everglades and add about a million acre-feet of water storage. That water could soak the Everglades during the dry season, help protect wildlife and prevent fires.