The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board heard today from District hydrologic data staff that the region’s water resources are recovering, but are still impacted from two years of drought.
“We’re seeing improvements overall in hydrologic conditions but we are approaching the end of the rainy season in September,” said Granville Kinsman, District Hydrologic Data manager. “We still have much more room for the water resources to recover.”
According to Kinsman, rainfall distribution has continued to improve in 2008, following two years of drought. Tropical Storm Fay skirted the Tampa Bay area, bringing drier air and less than an inch of rain. However, portions of Highlands and Citrus counties received as much as 10 inches of rain as the tropical storm circled the region.
As a result of the return to normal rainfall in 2008, groundwater levels have improved and are in the normal ranges throughout the District. However, lakes remain heavily impacted from the two years of drought. Lake levels throughout the District remain one to four feet below normal. River levels have also improved but the Withlacoochee and Hillsborough rivers still remain at the bottom of normal seasonal levels.
Governing Board secretary Jennifer Closshey expressed concerns that rainfall from Tropical Storm Fay may lead the public to believe that all of the impacts from the two-year drought have been erased.
“As today’s presentation illustrates, even as we approach the end of the rainy season, we’re still not where we need to be and it’s sobering,” said Closshey. “I just hope that the public doesn’t think that we’re out of the woods, but instead it’s still a serious situation and we still need to be diligent about it.”
The District remains on one-day-per-week watering restrictions, which are scheduled to expire September 30. The Governing Board will vote on the restrictions at its regularly scheduled September 30 board meeting.