Lake Okeechobee Drought 2007

Lake Okeechobee Water Management

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At its meeting on April 19, 2019, the LWDD Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted Resolution 19-04 urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to consider the importance of protecting Palm Beach County’s water supply in the development of a new Lake Okeechobee regulation schedule.

Lake Okeechobee is part of an integrated regional water management system essential to communities, businesses, public water supply utilities and ecosystems throughout Palm Beach County. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages Lake Okeechobee water levels. The USACE is in the process of developing a new Lake Okeechobee water level regulation schedule called the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) which will define the parameters for future management of Lake Okeechobee.

The LWDD is highly dependent on Lake Okeechobee as a source of water supply, especially during times of water shortages. As the new LOSOM is developed, LWDD urges the USACE and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to favor operational alternatives that maximize health, safety, and welfare of the water-use community. The future operational design for Lake Okeechobee should include changes that minimize the potential for short-term water supply shortages, and protect the existing permitted water allocations, which will assure the predictability of a continued and reliable source that is essential to water supply planning on local and regional levels.

The LWDD recognizes that water supply is but one of the significant public health, safety and welfare concerns that must be weighed by the USACE and SFWMD in the development of LOSOM. These include the environmental health of the Lake, the health of flora and fauna which make Lake Okeechobee home, the health of the Everglades, the health of the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries, and the integrity of the Herbert Hoover Dike and safety of surrounding communities.

The Lake Worth Drainage District (LWDD) provides flood control and water supply for more than 800,000 residents and more than 10,000 acres of agricultural land in Palm Beach County. The LWDD service area encompasses 218 square miles, with 13 municipalities and 511 miles of drainage canals. Additionally, LWDD water control activities provide aquifer recharge to prevent saltwater intrusion for numerous major wellfields.

A copy of the resolution can be found at LWDD Resolution 19-04.

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Stormwater 101: Frequently Asked Questions

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Q.   Where does the water in the LWDD canals come from?

A.   Stormwater (rainfall) is where LWDD receives most of its water supply for the canal system. However, during dry periods with low rainfall, LWDD may rely on the regional system of canals, Water Conservation Areas and sometimes Lake Okeechobee as a source of supplemental water.

Q.   Who owns the water within LWDD’s canals?

A.   In Florida, water is not a property right but rather a resource ‘shared in common’ by landowners. Groundwater and surface water (canals) are held in trust for the benefit of its citizens. Ownership of the land adjacent to a water body does not provide ownership of the water nor the right to use the water. The right to use water is regulated by the State of Florida through regional water management districts. In our area, the entity responsible is the South Florida Water Management District.

Q.   What is a drought?

A.   While it is relatively easy to define what a hurricane or an earthquake is, defining a drought is more subjective. Droughts do not have the immediate effects of floods, but sustained droughts can cause economic stress throughout an area. The word “drought” has various meanings, depending on a person’s perspective. To a farmer, a drought is a period of moisture deficiency that affects the crops under cultivation. Even two weeks without rainfall can stress many crops during certain periods of the growing cycle. To a meteorologist, a drought is a prolonged period when precipitation is less than normal. To a water manager, a drought is a deficiency in the water supply that affects water availability and water quality.

Q.   How does drought affect private and municipal well fields?

A.   The water level in the underground aquifer that supplies a well does not always remain the same. Seasonal variations in rainfall or manual pumping may affect the height of the underground water levels. If a well is pumped at a faster rate than the aquifer is recharged by rainfall or other underground water flows, then the water level in the well can be lowered. This can happen during drought, due to the deficit in the amount of rain.

Q.   Where can I find information about water restrictions in my area?

A.  To promote responsible water use and protect our valuable water resources, Palm Beach County observes the South Florida Water Management District’s Year-Round Landscape Irrigation Conservation Measures Rule. Landscape irrigation is restricted to three days a week before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Several municipalities within the Lake Worth Drainage District’s jurisdictional boundaries have adopted their own, more stringent water and irrigation conservation ordinances. Please check with your local municipality for their specific water use rules. For additional information on current water restrictions, visit the South Florida Water Management District’s website at http://www.sfwmd.gov

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Dry Season Landscapes

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Water is a critical factor for healthy and attractive landscapes. The absence of adequate rainfall or irrigation can lead to drought stress and reduced plant growth. Drought stress happens when the plant’s roots cannot absorb the quantity of water needed to support normal growth processes. Even though South Florida receives an annual average of over 50 inches of rain, this rainfall is seasonal. Some plant species encounter drought stress during our dry season which lasts from approximately November to May.

During times of reduced water, plants react by cutting down on photosynthesis and other processes to reduce their water consumption. With progressive water loss, the leaves of some plant species may turn pale or brown. Foliage often withers away, and the entire plant may die. This can be a frustrating and a costly occurrence for a home gardener. So why fight mother nature? There are hundreds of landscape plants that can tolerate drought stress. A few familiar to most gardeners are the Blanket Flower with bright gold and red flowers, Firebush with colorful tube-shaped yellow-and-orange flowers and Buttonwood which can be used as an attractive hedge. Many drought-tolerant flowering plants are a favorite among butterflies and hummingbirds which can add more beauty to your landscape.

Creating a landscape design using drought-tolerant shrubs, trees and flowers can help you avoid plant loss and extensive water-use. For more information on drought-tolerant landscapes, visit the University of Florida’s website at http://www.gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/design/landscaping-for-specific-sites/planning-your-landscape-to-conserve-water.html

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LWDD’s Role In Water Conservation

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Florida is fortunate to receive over 50 inches of rainfall a year on average. Most of that amount is concentrated during the six-month rainy season (May through October). While some of the runoff from these rains is discharged to the ocean to avoid flooding, a significant amount soaks into the ground and recharges the freshwater aquifers that supply our drinking water wellfields, lakes and wetlands.

For large populations of people to live safely in south Florida, a massive regional water management system is required to balance the water supply needs of urban areas and water uses of agriculture against the requirement to maintain flood protection. If we did not provide adequate drainage to the region, human health and safety would be jeopardized and extensive property damage could occur. Similarly, if regional groundwater levels were not properly maintained, wellfields would be unable to deliver water to our homes and businesses, or worse yet, the underground inland migration of salt water from the ocean could permanently contaminate the drinking water supply rendering it unsafe for potable uses.

Water conservation efforts by the LWDD help mitigate some of the water supply issues our region experiences. The large network of LWDD canals plays a critical role in conservation by maintaining groundwater levels which in turn supports the water levels in lakes, ponds and wetlands across the region. During dry periods, groundwater levels tend to slowly fall in response to low rain and high evaporation. When this occurs, water managers in the region look to large regional storage areas like the Water Conservation Areas in the Everglades or to Lake Okeechobee as a source of supplemental water. Water from these sources is released into the canal network to raise the level of water in the canals. This water in turn seeps through the sandy soils to recharge the groundwater and returns the water table to its normal elevation thus helping to protect drinking water supplies.

The LWDD’s efforts, to manage drainage canals at appropriate elevations to balance water supply needs and avoid ocean discharges when possible, plays a key role in comprehensive water conservation for South Florida.