149
 estimates of total county land area (Table 7'and Appendix

 Tables A-2, A-3, and A-4). Approximately 1.4 million

 acres, (0.57 million hectare) of the three county area of

 2.7 million acres, (1.1 million hectares), once were

 freshwater wetlands.

 For comparison with the above measurements, Table 8

 gives areas of wetlands measured from county soils-

 associations maps prepared by U.S. Department of

 Agriculture Soil Conservation Service (1968), and Table 9

 gives areas of wetlands measured on county highway maps

 prepared by the Florida Department of Transportation (1966,

 1969, and 1971). The soils-associations maps yield results

 similar to those obtained from the pond measurements and

 measurements from vegetation maps prepared at the Center

 for Wetlands. The DOT maps, which were prepared after many

 wetlands had been drained, greatly underestimate natural

 wetlands area.

 Approximately 860,000 acres (0.35 million hectare) of

wetlands have been eliminated by drainage, which has

occurred most extensively in southwest Collier County,

east-central Lee County, and northeastern Hendry County.


Surface Water Storage Capacity (above around storage)

 The combined storage capacities of each of the

different wetlands in southwest Florida are shown in Table

10. Details of the volume calculations for each wetlands