by Tony S

Created on: June 14, 2010

Florida is facing a serious water crisis in recent years.  The renowned Lake Okeechobee, the largest lake in Florida, even suffered severe depletion in water levels.  In fact, the water levels had been so low to a point that the dry grasses on the lake bottom had caught fire. Back in 2007, if you had looked out at the lake from a viewing platform, you could see in the lake edges of Okeechobee, the semi-dry mud that border the lake shores. It was unusual seeing a grackle or a terrestrial bird walking across an area where water used to be or a gator sunning themselves on the dried up lake bottom instead of an actual shoreline. Some parts of the lake bottom are even being exposed in the middle of the lake.

 Florida had been behind in taking water conservation seriously as compared to other parts of the country. But now, authorities are laying down the law when it comes to water conservation.

 Some homeowners organizations are actually enforcing this restriction by sending out homeowner authorities to measure the shade of green of a homeowner's grass, if it's not the regulated shade of green, they get sent a nasty letter and also get fined. What I'm thinking here, if it's too green, they're watering too much. So there is such a thing as too lush of a lawn in some parts of the state. 

Another concern is agriculture, it is big business in Florida and affects the Florida water supply tremendously because farmers and growers use huge amounts of water.

 In some areas of Florida, intrusion of saltwater from the ocean makes its way into the aquifer when water levels get lower and as a result city wells had to be shut down.

 Also, another issue in central Florida where Orange county is taxing the rest of the regions water supply. Apparently, with all the tourism and theme parks in the area, Orange county is starting to pump more and more water than adjacent counties. This is causing neighboring counties to mandate placing some kind of cap on the amount of water Orange county is extracting.

 Sinkholes are the resulting situation left by depleted areas of aquifers. These dreaded holes that can swallow up a home or a portion of a road or highway within days and can cause a lot of damage. Florida's major bedrock is limestone, and have a tendency to be porous or cavernous. A lot of these areas are filled with water, thus supporting the bedrock above it and providing a substantial substrate on the surface, but when areas of the aquifer get depleted, and there's nothing supporting parts of the bedrock, this can cause a cave-in all the way to the surface and forming a catastrophic sinkhole.

 Water plentiful states are even getting concerned with an eventual water shortage and conflict and some of these issues are being taken to the supreme court.

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