Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 10:17 pm Post subject: Re: DROUGHT
I'm not too far from you ... straight across the State a few hundred miles.
More than a few times I've obsessed over the lack of the rain. especially in Lake "O".
While my pastures went brown and crunchy and the local water restrictions went into crisis mode, I became amazed at the eventual rainfall in the proceding weeks.
My horses were swimming through the cypress head on my property.
The grounds squished and walking catfish appeared at my front door.
The rain will come and probably in abundance for your area.
Feast or famine is "Murphy's Law" or so they say.
In my neck of the woods if they want rain, all they have to do is plan a bar-b-q with some neighbors. Light the grill and grab an umbrella.
Or do like I did and wash and detail your car. It works like a rain dance.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 12:26 pm Post subject: Re: DROUGHT
From SFWMD statement issued 11/01/07
snip> "Summer rains miss Lake Okeechobee
Regional water shortage enters dry season with conditions never seen before."
"As the dry season begins today, South Florida is still in a severe regional water shortage, and water restrictions remain in place -- despite coastal summer rains. Lake Okeechobee, the backup water supply source for nearly 5 million people, is at a record low level of 10.36 feet today. That's 5 feet below the historical average for this time of year." <end snip
Here's 2 pics of the lake. the first is on May 23 2007. the second pic is from Oct 23 2007.
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Joined: Jun 08, 2005 Posts: 1479 Location: Cape Coral, Florida
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:32 pm Post subject: Re: DROUGHT
Val Perry, 67, a longtime Lake Lanier resident, walks along the receding shoreline to his boat dock in Cumming, Georgia on Thursday, October 4, 2007. A severe drought in north Georgia concerns local residents and area officials, who have imposed a total outdoor watering ban.
South Florida could be slapped with the toughest water restriction in history just in time for Christmas.
And, while water managers expressed confidence that tough restrictions will protect drinking-water supply, they acknowledged that saltwater intrusion into South Florida’s wellfields could again threaten by spring.
“We need to do this now – you don’t respond to a drought after it becomes a crisis,” said South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Carol Ann Wehle, standing on the banks of Lake Okeechobee where a boat channel on Tuesday disappeared into hundreds of yards of waist-high grass.
Wehle said the district will recommend putting the East Coast under one-day-a-week watering restrictions when its governing board meets in December and expects the West Coast to follow suit,” she said.
“The West Coast is two days a week but they have one of the largest deficits so they may go to one day a week as well,” Wehle said of the lack of rain, which stretching back to the tail end of Hurricane Wilma in October 2005.
Water conservation is aimed primarily at keeping underground freshwater higher than the ocean, which can infuse salt into the water supply, contaminating it for years.
Lake Okeechobee, a primary source of water for drinking and agriculture in south central Florida and a backup water supply for the heavily populated lower East Coast, sits at 10.3 feet.
That’s five feet lower than normal – 1.3 feet lower than it has ever started November and 2.39 feet lower than last year at this time.
“We are going into this dry season two-and-a-half feet lower and it is going to be a drier than normal dry season,”Wehle said. “We immediately need to go into drought response — the rainy season was in no way sufficient.”
The lake is unable to deliver water to the surrounding canal system when it falls below 10 feet. Temporary pumps installed by scuba divers last year, which were designed to pump the lake down to eight feet, are being extended to allow water to flow down to a depth of seven feet.
“We never thought we’d be in a position where we had to pump lower than eight feet but we think we could get there this year,” Wehle said.
George Horne, the district’s deputy executive director of operations and maintenance, acknowledged that several East Coast well fields came close to contamination last year and said conservation is the primary tool in the arsenal to keep ocean water at bay.
“Without that, we could find ourselves in very serious trouble early on this year,” Horne said.
Wehle said the district is counting on citizens to do their part without the threat of citations – which local municipalities handed out sporatically last year amid concerns about staffing demands.
“It’s not the threat of citations – it’s knowing there is a problem and doing something about it,” she said. “If you let the average citizen know that this is a very serious situation, we feel most people will voluntarily comply.” _________________ This post is for discussion purposes only. Please refer to the National Hurricane Center for official information.
Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 3:52 pm Post subject: Re: DROUGHT
L.OKEE
LEVL=10.32
23:00EST 08-NOV-2007 Satellite _________________ This post is for discussion purposes only. Please refer to the National Hurricane Center for official information.
Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:21 am Post subject: Re: DROUGHT
George Horne, South Florida Water Management District deputy executive director of operations and maintenance, checks the water levels in areas surrounding Lake Okeechobee, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007, during a helicopter tour. An unprecedented drought affecting the entire Southeast has left South Florida parched and thirsty, prompting the most severe water restrictions. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) _________________ Todd
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:23 am Post subject: Re: DROUGHT
A South Florida Water Management pump station is shown near Lake Okeechobee, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007. Lake Okeechobee, a backup drinking water source for five million people and the heart of the Everglades, sits at a record low. Plans are under way to restrict lawn-watering and cut water allocations to golf courses and crops in South Florida, as top water and agriculture officials said Monday they expect the region's drought to worsen next year. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) _________________ Todd
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:24 am Post subject: Re: DROUGHT
Carol Wehle, left, director of the South Florida Water Management District, shows a chart of Lake Okeechobee's water levels as George Horne, South Florida Water Management District deputy executive director of operations and maintenance, looks on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007, during a helicopter tour of Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee, a backup drinking water source for five million people and the heart of the Everglades, sits at a record low.Plans are under way to restrict lawn-watering and cut water allocations to golf courses and crops in South Florida, as top water and agriculture officials said Monday they expect the region's drought to worsen next year. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) _________________ Todd
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