Grassy Waters Preserve, the historic northeastern head waters of both the Everglades and the Loxahatchee River is located west of the Beeline Highway on Northlake Boulevard within the City of West Palm Beach. Grassy Waters Preserve is also known as the City’s Water Catchment Area (WCA) and serves as the City’s primary source of drinking water. Spanning 20 square miles, the rainwater-fed area was part of the vast Loxahatchee Slough wetlands that were abundant with wildlife and traversed by Native Americans and early South Florida pioneers.
Soon after Henry Morrison Flagler extended the Florida East Coast Railroad to West Palm Beach, his partner Charles W. Bingham identified the area known as Grassy Waters Preserve as a freshwater resource. The Flagler Water System, established in West Palm Beach in 1894, incorporated that portion of the slough as part of its potential water source. West Palm Beach’s steady population growth spurred efforts to build the M - Canal from Lake Mangonia to the WCA to provide greater water supply to Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, and surrounding areas.
In 1955 the City purchased the WCA from the Flagler Water System for its water department. In 1964 a special legislative act officially created the Water Catchment Area, known today as the “Grassy Waters Preserve”, giving it special use as a water supply and environmental education area. In 1995, the Preserve’s first building, the “Wilderness Pavilion”, was completed to further the Preserve’s goal to provide public conservation education. In 1996, Grassy Waters Preserve, the non-profit division was formed to support the mission of the Preserve of encouraging water based conservation through enjoyable nature based education and creative activities for all ages.
By virtue of its long established hydrologic integrity; contrasted against the hyper-drained region, Grassy Waters Preserve remains as one of the few year round wetland refuges for the Everglades Snail Kite, Limpkin, Southern Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, Short-tailed Hawks, Snowy Egret, Glossy and White Ibis and a host of other avian species. Its vast size permits the interplay of top predator and prey to continue undisrupted between Bobcat and White-tail Deer, Alligator and Wild Hog, Eagle and Bass and is supportive of a myriad of food chains that have existed in these sub-tropical wetlands long before man was part of natural selection.
Grassy Waters Preserve is a community based conservation center that offers unique education and recreational opportunities on the edge of a vast 20 square mile wetlands resource. The Preserve today features nature center pavilions, boardwalk trails, hiking, canoeing, environmental education, interpretive programs and more. In providing educational and recreational opportunities to the community, Grassy Waters Preserve furthers a long-term legacy of stewardship by providing the public with access and exposure to these vital public resources. Such exposure to such an immensely vital ecosystem can only enhance the Preserve’s ability to educate the public of the importance and beauty of this critical natural resource.