Parched Florida Wetlands Spread Wildfires
L A K E C O U N T Y, Fla., March 3 -- Firefighters in central Florida are battling two blazes scorching the swamps of central Florida, the latest symptom of a three-year drought that has left the area's wetlands as dry as kindling.
In some areas of Florida, rainfall is nearly five feet below normal.
"If you're keeping records, you would only expect to see a drought this severe about once every 100 to 200 years," said Al Canepa of the St. John's Water Management District.
In Lake County, the lakes are disappearing. The largest of them — the Clermont chain of lakes — has shrunk dramatically, and there is no water in the rivers that connect them.
The drought is having a devastating effect on local businesses, like Tom Ison's marina on Lake Susan.
"At least 30 to 35 percent of our revenues have gone down the drain with the water," he laments.
Dry Ground Instead of Knee-Deep Water
The drought has caused hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands in Lake County to dry up. Areas where the water should be knee-high, there is nothing but dry ground and parched, brittle vegetation.
The Florida Aquifer — the state's primary source of drinking water — is eight feet below normal.
Like many areas in Florida, Lake County has imposed restrictions on local water use. Residents can only water their lawns twice a week, for example.
But demand for water keeps growing, as new housing developments transform Lake County from a rural area to an Orlando suburb.
Golf Courses A Major Drain on Resources
Along with the population surge has come a golfing boom — 18 new courses in the past five years, bringing the total to 40. Each course consumes roughly a million gallons a day.
"Forty million gallons would supply roughly 160,000 residents a day — almost the entire county," notes Ron Hold, a Lake County Water Authority official.
Meanwhile, firefighters are preparing to flood a section of highway near Orlando, where a wildfire has been burning for ten days, shutting parts of Interstate 4 and pouring smoke over baseball fields where major league teams are holding spring training.
