TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Swiftmud decides to extend current watering restrictions

Staff file photo by CHRIS URSO (2006)

Rainfall in the Tampa Bay region continues to be 7 to 9 inches below normal for the past year and lakes are averaging a foot lower than the lowest point they should be in September. The underwater water table is about a 53 on a scale of 1 to 100.

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 29, 2009

TAMPA - Despite the daily rains that have drenched the Bay area over the past few weeks, the regional agency that tells residents how many times they can water their lawns each week extended all the current restrictions here until the end of the year.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District voted unanimously to follow its staff's recommendation to keep once-a-week watering restrictions for Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties until Dec. 31.

The board extended until Oct. 31 similar restrictions for Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and DeSoto counties and until Feb. 28 for counties along the northern edge of the district.

The authority met this afternoon and approved the recommendations with little discussion.

The staff did tell the board that things were looking up, though. Rain was falling on a regular basis and the area's reservoir was beginning to look more like a reservoir than a sand pit. Public well output over the past few months had dropped below the 90 million gallons per day average.

Rainfall in the Tampa Bay region continues to be 7 to 9 inches below normal for the past year and lakes are averaging a foot lower than the lowest point they should be in September. The underwater water table is about a 53 on a scale of 1 to 100.

Those are factors the district's staff took into account in making its recommendation.

That and the fact that the region is about to embark on its yearly dry season.

Hydrologists estimate that it would take 14 inches of rain on top of normal rainfall to bring lakes back to the low end of their range. That means more than 26 inches from now through the rest of the year.

Still, the outlook isn't all that bleak. Forecasters say there is a good chance Florida will get above-average rainfall this winter because of El Nino, a warming of vast regions in the Pacific Ocean.

That results in a wet winter and spring for the Sunshine State and could pull the region out of a lengthy drought.

By extending the restrictions, Bay area residents still can only water their lawns and wash their cars once a week. Days of watering typically are set by the counties.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT