U.S. Water News Online
MIAMI -- Water levels in one of the United States' largest freshwater lakes dropped to a record low, after months of lower-than-normal rainfall levels have severely affected the main backup water supply for 5 million South Florida residents.
The South Florida Water Management District reported a record low of 8.94 feet in Lake Okeechobee, the heart of the Everglades. The average water level should be around 13 feet this time of year.
The region's drought is leading water managers to assess how to best protect drinking water supplies, meet needs of the important agriculture, fishing and tourism industries, and protect natural resources.
"If South Florida wants to get out of a crisis situation ... we need the lake to rise 5 feet," said Carol Ann Wehle, the district's executive director. Record keeping on the lake's levels began in 1931.
South Florida is largely dependent on the 730-square-mile lake during dry periods, when it can be used as a reservoir if water wells from groundwater aquifers get too low.
Rainfall directly over the lake has been low enough to qualify the drought as a one-in-100-year event, the district said. Just 40 inches of rain have fallen on the region in the past 18 months, about half the average amount, water managers said.
The wet summer season dumps an average of about 3 feet of rain in South Florida each year, district officials said.
The dry conditions have exposed vegetation that normally sits on the lake bottom. A 23-square-mile fire started in the dried-out vegetation in the lake's northwest rim. The fire was 75 percent contained, and a voluntary evacuation for a mobile home park was called off.
The drought has forced stringent water restrictions on homes and businesses in 13 counties, and four coastal wells were closed to prevent saltwater contamination.
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