Jan 8, 2008 1:39 pm US/Eastern
State: 2006, 2007 Driest Back-To-Back Years
Unprecedented Water Restrictions Begin January 15
Phase III Restrictions Limit Outside Watering To Once-A-Week
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) ―
Keep trying to conserve that water. South Florida water managers say 2006 and 2007 were the driest consecutive years in the region since record-keeping began in 1932.
Scientists say the two-year total is nearly 2 feet less than the typical average rainfall of about 9 feet for the region. Lake Okeechobee, a backup drinking water source for more than five million people, remains more than 4 feet below its average level due to the drought.
The South Florida Water Management District recently approved the region's tightest water restrictions, limiting outside watering to once a week from Orlando to the Keys.
It was the first time the agency imposed the severe restrictions uniformly throughout its entire 16-county territory.
"The District's rainfall data confirms that South Florida is still in the grips of a severe regional drought, which has led to a multi-year water shortage the likes of which we have never experienced," said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Eric Buermann. "South Florida residents - as well as water managers - must live with limited water supplies this dry season, and we all must practice conservation and follow the one-day-a-week restrictions if we are to successfully minimize the impacts of this water shortage."
All of the SFWMD's major basins, except for two comprising residential areas of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, experienced below average rainfall in 2007. Most notably, the Lake Okeechobee basin received 30.71 inches of rain, approximately 67 percent of that basin's historical average, or a deficit of nearly 15 inches for the year.
"Although some southeastern counties have enjoyed average or above average rainfall this year, we have limited storage options in these densely populated areas, limiting our ability to capture large quantities of water," added Carol Ann Wehle, executive director of the SFWMD. "The lack of rainfall in central and northern portions of the District is a concern for all of us because virtually all residential areas depend on it to augment their water supplies."
New Water Restrictions Effective January 15: In December and for the first time in the agency's history, the SFWMD declared an extreme District-wide water shortage, instituting a one-day-a-week watering schedule for residential landscape irrigation. Landscape irrigation accounts for up to half of all household water consumption in the State of Florida and totals more than seven billion gallons per day nationwide.
The new restrictions become effective Tuesday, January 15. Enforcement, including the issuance of civil fines and notices of violation, also is set to commence on that date. For information on watering days and times, as well as restrictions on specific use classes, visit
www.sfwmd.gov/conserve. For additional information on the water shortage, irrigation restrictions or water conservation, call the SFWMD's toll-free Water Conservation Hotline at 1
-800-662-8876 or contact a regional SFWMD service center.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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