Rainy season is running late, and that has Florida-state resource managers asking for help.
The South Florida Water Management District wants folks to conserve water, especially urging people to follow year-round water rules that limit sprinklers to three times per week.
At the same time, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson urged extra caution during holiday cookouts and anything else that could spark a fire — such as a tossed cigarette.
No matter how rainy the year has been, just a few weeks without rain can put Southwest Florida in a predicament, because of its sandy soils and rapidly growing demand for water.
Although April gave this region more than double the 1.67 inches it usually brings, groundwater levels here are about an inch lower than normal this time of year, said Kurt Harclerode, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District.
In all of May, less than half an inch of rain has been recorded by the National Weather Service at Page Field Airport.
The situation isn’t dire here, but water managers urged caution, just in case rainy season takes more than its sweet time to arrive.
“We have dry conditions; people can see it out there in their lawns,” Harclerode said. “We ask everyone, until the rains come, make sure they abide by those year-round restrictions.”
Bronson asked residents and visitors to avoid any unnecessary burning.
Lee County’s average on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, which rates fire risk from 0 to 800, was 526 on Wednesday. Collier County was 627, with a high of 749.
“The dry, hot weather has created tinderbox conditions throughout Florida,” Bronson said. “We all need to be careful that a small fire does not become a wildfire.”