A summer of heavy rainfall across South Florida ended a protracted drought and brought water levels in the famed “River of Grass” to the highest on record.

The water has driven deer and other species from the scattering of tree islands, which normally provide a dry haven, onto the few stretches of canal levees that are now the only footing that remains above water.

Similar conditions in 1982 and 1995 decimated the Glades’ white-tailed deer, bringing its population down from the thousands to the hundreds.

The natural flow of the Everglades southward to Florida Bay has been blocked since a highway known as the Tamiami Trail was constructed from Miami to the Gulf Coast in the 1920s.

Plans to replace a section of the elevated roadway with a 3,000-foot causeway are being considered, along with culverts that would also allow water to flow beneath parts of the highway.

Photo: Stock