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Lake Worth Lagoon Logo 
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​​​Lake Worth Lagoon is Palm Beach County's largest estuary, spanning 20 miles from North Palm Beach to Ocean Ridge​.  

Ocean water flows in through 2 inlets and mixes with freshwater flowing through 3 major flood control canals that drain over 350,000 acres of land.  This mixture of fresh and salt water turns brackish and is critical habitat to a wide variety of plants and animals.  In addition, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway cuts through the estuary as it traverses the east coast and is a source of food, recreation, transportation, employment, and coastal protection for populations living along it.​​​​

​Map of Palm Beach County highlighting Lake Worth Lagoon's Watershed
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​What Makes Estuaries Special?​​

The environment in an estuary is dynamic.  It changes daily - tides move in and out of the inlets - AND seasonally - rainy season drives more freshwater through the canals. Life in Lake Worth Lagoon must adapt to changes in water temperature, salinity, turbidity, depth and flow. And while change is what defines an estuary, the result is what makes it highly productive.  Estuaries are the nurseries of the sea by serving as a refuge for species to complete their life-cycle.  Lake Worth Lagoon estuary is a birthing area, safe haven for juveniles to mature, transportation corridor with rest areas during migration, nesting area, and source of food. ​​


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For over 30 years, E​RM has been on the frontlines to steward Lake Worth Lagoon

Since the late 1990s, ERM has created and restored over 250 acres of  estuarine habitat resulting in improved water quality, increased public use connectivity, the return of nesting shorebirds, and xxxx. Over 50 restoration projects have been managed by ERM including large-scale island creations to smaller-scale living shoreline installations up against concrete seawalls. ​

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Johns Island

M​anaged by Audubon
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Once a low lying tidal flat, the area suffered environmental degredation from years of soil being stockpiled from Intracoastal Waterway dredging projects. ERM restored the island by lowering elevations to create just the right conditions for tropical maritime habitats like salt marsh, mangrove, seagrass and oysters to flourish including a 14 acre oyster bar that filters the water column as freshwater flows from inland through the C-51 Canal into the estuary​.  ​

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​​ Munyon Island

​Part of John D MacArthur Beach State Park
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Originally, called "Nuctsachoo" or Pelican Island by the Seminole Indians, this was considered the largest wading bird rookery in South Florida in the 1800s. Years of human activity, including the development of Dr. Munyon's Hotel Hygeia Resort in the 1900s and storing large amounts of soil in the 1930s and 1960s during the construction of the Intracoastal Waterway Channel, degraded the island’s natural esturine habitats. ERM restored the 43-acre island by removing 40 acres of invasive plant species, lowering land elevations to create channels for tidal flushing, and enhanced 20 acres of mangrove tree and salt marsh habitat by installing 120,000 native wetland plants.

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