TheCaloosahatchee River is ariver on the southwestGulf Coast ofFlorida in theUnited States, approximately 67 miles (108 km) long.^[1] It drains rural areas on the northern edge of theEverglades, east ofFort Myers. An important link in theOkeechobee Waterway, a manmade inlandwaterway system of southern Florida, the river forms a tidalestuary along most of its course and has become the subject ofefforts to restore and preserve the Everglades.

The river issues from Lake Hicpochee, in southeasternGlades County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) west ofClewiston. It flows west-southwest pastLaBelle, where it becomes tidal, forming an estuary along its lower 25 mi (40 km). It broadens as it nears the gulf, passingFort Myers andCape Coral. It enters theGulf of Mexico 10 mi (16 km) southwest of Fort Myers inSan Carlos Bay, protected bySanibel Island.

The 5 mi (8 km) C-43 Caloosahatchee Canal connecting Lake Hicpochee toLake Okeechobee allows continuousnavigation from the Caloosahatchee to theOkeechobee Waterway system;oxbow lakes mark isolated stretches of the original waterway.^[2] In 2013, heavy rains in southern Florida resulted in high runoff into Lake Okeechobee; rising lake levels forced theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers to release large volumes of polluted water from the lake through theSt. Lucie Riverestuary to the east and the Caloosahatchee River estuary to the west. Thus, the normal mix of fresh and salt water in those estuaries was replaced by a flood of polluted fresh water resulting in ecological damage.^[3]

Until late in the 19th century, the Caloosahatchee River was fed by a series of lakes starting from Lake Hicpochee, and including Lettuce Lake, Bonnet Lake and Flirt Lake. A waterfall and set of rapids at the lower end of Flirt Lake marked the beginning of the river. The rapids were close to 1 mile (1.6 km) long, with a drop in elevation of about 10 feet (3.0 m). Lake Hicpochee, about 9,000 acres (3,600 ha) in area, was only 3 miles (4.8 km) from Lake Okeechobee, but there was no connection between the two lakes before the late 19th century. Water flowed from Lake Hicpochee westward into Lettuce Lake and then Bonnet Lake. When the water was high, the two lakes merged. From Bonnet Lake, water flowed into Lake Flirt, which was about 1,000 acres (400 ha) in area and 5 miles (8.0 km) long. All of the lakes were surrounded by extensive wetlands.^[4]

In 1881,Hamilton Disston, as part of a scheme to drain large areas of wetlands in the interior of Florida, had a canal dredged from Lake Okeechobee to Lake Hicpochee and through the lakes and wetlands to the west. His company removed the rock ledge that formed the falls and rapids below Lake Flirt and straightened the upper reaches of the Caloosahatchee River. Various state and federal projects have widened and deepened the river since then.^[5] The conversion of the Caloosahatchee River into a canal drained Lake Flirt and the wetlands descending from Lake Hicpochee.^[6]

Since the late 19th century,dredging andchannelization of the river, as well as the artificial connection to Lake Okeechobee and its use as awater supply forurban andagricultural uses, have substantially altered thehydrology of the river. As a result, both the magnitude and timing of water delivery to the estuary have been substantially altered. Recent programs by thestate government have attempted to establish minimum flow levels in the river, in part to help restore the water supply to the Everglades. A federalwildlife refuge formanatees has been established at the mouth of the river on San Carlos Bay near Fort Myers.

The following is a list of bridge crossings of the Caloosahatchee River and Canal

•  
  Ortona Lock and Dam on the Caloosahatchee River, part of the Okeechobee Waterway, in Glades County, Florida
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  Seminole Gulf Railway spans the Caloosahatchee River nearTice, Florida.
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  TheMidpoint Memorial Bridge spanning the river and connecting the cities of Cape Coral and Fort Myers (2008).

• South Atlantic-Gulf Water Resource Region

• South Florida Water Management District: Caloosahatchee River and Estuary
• GulfBase.org: Caloosahatchee River
• USFWS: Caloosahatchee River-San Carlos Bay Federal Manatee RefugeArchived 2005-05-11 at theWayback Machine
• Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association (Riverwatch)
• Caloosahatchee River Watershed - Florida DEP^[usurped]

26°31′01″N82°01′59″W / 26.5170225°N 82.0331467°W /26.5170225; -82.0331467