Forty Percent Dry

Lake Okeechobee, the bellwether instrument for South Florida water supply is expected to drop below 10 feet soon.  And when making a year-to-year comparison, the lake dropped below this level last year in mid-April – two months later. The all-time record low level of 8.82 feet was July 2, 2007.

The lake level is currently at 10.05 feet and models are predicting lake levels to drop to between 7.0 feet and 8.3 feet by June 1.  At a level of 7 feet, 40 percent of the lake surface area would be dry ground.

If the region immediately north, and then the Orlando area have a normal rainfall, this will add only two to three feet.  If this occurs, the lake will still be abnormally low and severe water restrictions on watering, not to mention agriculture, will continue into the foreseeable future.

All of this while we send billions of gallons of water into the ocean each and every time it rains.