Rain relieves drought

By KATE SPINNER

kate.spinner@heraldtribune.com

A dose of rain from Tropical Storm Fay helped erase drought in most of Southwest Florida, but water managers are still hoping for more rain.

By late Tuesday afternoon, the storm had doused eastern Charlotte County with three to five inches, but left Sarasota and Manatee and areas just along the coast with an inch or less, according to National Weather Service data.

The rainfall, coupled with heavy July downpours, carried the counties out of drought conditions, according to a national climate monitor that gauges a range of conditions, including soil moisture, rainfall, groundwater levels and weather forecasts.

However, the damage to the region’s water supply caused by two years of drought cannot be remedied by a single month of heavy rain and one drenching storm, said Robin Felix, a spokesperson for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

The agency tracks and regulates water resources in a 16-county region.

Even as official drought conditions disappear for now, Southwest Florida’s rivers and lakes have a long way to go before they recover.

The region will need a few more tropical storms to reverse several years of unusually dry weather, said Mike Cantin, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Ruskin.

“Tropical systems are more beneficial because they cover a wider area of precipitation,” Cantin said. “That’s part of the reason we got in a drought in the first place. The last few seasons have been fairly quiet.”

The Peace River in Arcadia — where the river is tapped for drinking water — neared its historic flow Tuesday for the first time this year.

After the brunt of the storm had passed at 2:30 p.m., the river was flowing at 1,130 cubic feet per second. At the same time Monday the flow was 862 cubic feet per second.

Other rivers from Manatee to Charlotte are sitting at levels slightly below average for this time of year. Lakes are a foot to five feet below normal, Felix said.

“The good news is the storm is moving really slow, and we’re hoping that will bring some extended rainfall,” Felix said.

Inland areas have received more rain.

Lake Okeechobee, which recently reached record lows, is getting closer to its normal level. It was standing a little over 11 feet early Tuesday, 2 to 3 feet shy of normal.

The lake level was rising Tuesday as Fay dumped about 5 inches of rain over central Florida. Storm-water runoff from the Kissimmee River basin will continue to raise the lake level.

Authorities say the lake does not pose a flood risk for surrounding communities.

Once Fay moves out of central Florida into the Atlantic, it will loop back around to track across the northern part of the state, forecasters predict.

Upon its return, the system is expected to send more rain this way.

Southwest Florida began to ease out of drought conditions late last month after heavy rains, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which tracks drought conditions nationally.