[sunrico90]

Another hot issue that affects our economy and families:

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/palmbeachpost/photos/drought/

[tallrick]

This was caused by thw Water Management District, as usual. Rainfall in south Florida seemed to be normal, but letting so much water out of lake Okeechobee was a BAD bad idea!

[sunrico90]

Were talking millions of people here that use this water supply everyday. The lake levels have dropped to record levels not seen in over 50 years. South Florida Water Management, held a press conference on Monday, which I attended, and invited media from both coasts of the state to help show how bad the 2007 Florida drought has become. They feel since people living on the coasts can’t see how low water levels are well inland, that they are ignoring the strict water restrictions now in place to help conserve our fresh water supplies.

Water managers say it’ll likely take more than just one wet season to undo the rain deficit. There is also the chance of below normal summer rainfall totals due to La Nina.

It’s going to take a good slow moving tropical system to help put just a little dent in this severe drought. The wildfires have yet to come. I mean wildfires everywhere, as lightning starts new fires every afternoon. Once the daily lightning storm season starts here, there will be likely wildfires in many locations as there is dry brush from coast to coast. There lays tons of hurricane brush and tree debris from the hurricanes of 2004-2005 thats fuel just waiting to catch fire. I bet the 4th of July this year will have firework bans like back in 1997 when it was extremely dry.

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/pics/southeast_dm.png (broken link)

[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by tallrick

This was caused by thw Water Management District, as usual. Rainfall in south Florida seemed to be normal, but letting so much water out of lake Okeechobee was a BAD bad idea!

Where do you get this stuff? I don't think we live in the same universe, let alone the same state.

Here is a portion of the report from the National Weather Service:

"... severe drought conditions have developed around lake okeechobee
and far northern palm beach county...
... moderate drought conditions continue for rest of south florida...

most of south florida has received less than one inch of rain during
the month of march ... except for parts of miami dade county where between
1 to 2 inches of rain has fallen. most of the rainy season of 2006 and the
current dry season of 2006 - 2007 has been quite dry over south florida.
these dry conditions over an extended period of time has resulted in
large rainfall deficits across most of south florida."

That doesn't sound like normal rainfall. Other graphs and reports I found show that Miami and the Keys have had normal or even above normal rainfall this year, which may be where you got your twisted view, but rainfall in the Central Florida area across a band from Fort Pierce to Fort Myers, which includes much of Okeechobee, has been less than half of normal.

All I know is that I didn't let any water out of my half-acre pond near Okeechobee, but it is 6' (six feet!) below normal level. Many ponds have completely dried up, and a friend of mine who owns a large excavator has a backlog of ranches to dig cattle ponds deeper. They usually have to go to 12' to hit water, when normal is 2' to 3'.

This is a severe drought and you should be ashamed to make light of it.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by pslOldTimer

Where do you get this stuff? I don't think we live in the same universe, let alone the same state.

Here is a portion of the report from the National Weather Service:

"... severe drought conditions have developed around lake okeechobee
and far northern palm beach county...
... moderate drought conditions continue for rest of south florida...

most of south florida has received less than one inch of rain during
the month of march ... except for parts of miami dade county where between
1 to 2 inches of rain has fallen. most of the rainy season of 2006 and the
current dry season of 2006 - 2007 has been quite dry over south florida.
these dry conditions over an extended period of time has resulted in
large rainfall deficits across most of south florida."

That doesn't sound like normal rainfall. Other graphs and reports I found show that Miami and the Keys have had normal or even above normal rainfall this year, which may be where you got your twisted view, but rainfall in the Central Florida area across a band from Fort Pierce to Fort Myers, which includes much of Okeechobee, has been less than half of normal.

All I know is that I didn't let any water out of my half-acre pond near Okeechobee, but it is 6' (six feet!) below normal level. Many ponds have completely dried up, and a friend of mine who owns a large excavator has a backlog of ranches to dig cattle ponds deeper. They usually have to go to 12' to hit water, when normal is 2' to 3'.

This is a severe drought and you should be ashamed to make light of it.

pslOldTimer,

Can you post a pic of your pond?
Thanks...

[33458]

Jupiter, SF checking in.

Yep, dry as a tinderbox here...crispy brown. Tumbleweeds blowing by...

The only thing I bother watering on our allowed days is the butterfly garden, and most all of that I planted is drought-resistant once established...thought ahead.

I find it interesting to drive around and see who still has lush, green grass...if you water correctly (deeply) during drought-free periods, the grass can hold on longer when stressed, but many of my neighbors sneak frequent, extra, shallow watering in late at night - I've seen it before during the last round of restrictions and won't be surprised to see it again this year.

At least this time they also enforced commercial/development restrictions. That will help make some difference.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by 33458

Jupiter, SF checking in.

Yep, dry as a tinderbox here...crispy brown. Tumbleweeds blowing by...

The only thing I bother watering on our allowed days is the butterfly garden, and most all of that I planted is drought-resistant once established...thought ahead.

I find it interesting to drive around and see who still has lush, green grass...if you water correctly (deeply) during drought-free periods, the grass can hold on longer when stressed, but many of my neighbors sneak frequent, extra, shallow watering in late at night - I've seen it before during the last round of restrictions and won't be surprised to see it again this year.



At least this time they also enforced commercial/development restrictions. That will help make some difference.

Do you have problem with wild animals because of the drought? bears, etc...

[33458]

No bears around here, too built-up and too far East (Yes, I'm told there are bears in Florida. I've never seen one).

We have smaller critters, but no more or less than before the drought. I provide seed and water during the day but limit availability at night to discourage a large number of vermin.

The Southern Racers are still in my garden.

I do not know how this is impacting the Greenways; local, preserved natural landscapes set aside for wildlife. The County did clear out some underbrush recently - I am assuming to prevent a recurrence of careless, man-made fires that plague the area. Kids and matches...

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by 33458

No bears around here, too built-up and too far East (Yes, I'm told there are bears in Florida. I've never seen one).

We have smaller critters, but no more or less than before the drought. I provide seed and water during the day but limit availability at night to discourage a large number of vermin.

The Southern Racers are still in my garden.

I do not know how this is impacting the Greenways; local, preserved natural landscapes set aside for wildlife. The County did clear out some underbrush recently - I am assuming to prevent a recurrence of careless, man-made fires that plague the area. Kids and matches...

We had a black bear in front of the house last week. This is because of the drought, fires, and lack of food.

[33458]

Originally Posted by sunrico90

We had a black bear in front of the house last week. This is because of the drought, fires, and lack of food.

WOW.

Black bears are supposed to shy away from humans, so that's pretty serious. Poor thing. Can't blame him.
Was he 'relocated' by animal rescue or did he move himself on down the road?

Are you out in the boonies?