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Lake Levels Drop Despite Rainy Season

By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: September 13, 2007

It's the rainy season, but apparently Lake Istokpoga and Lake Okeechobee don't know that.

Istokpoga has dipped from a high of 38.6 feet in March to 38.3 feet as of Sept. 11, according to a chart presented Wednesday by Clell Ford, Highlands County lakes manager, at the Highlands Soil and Water Conservation District meeting.

"We haven't had a lot of rain," Ford said. Another graph showed a wet July, but March, April, May, August and early September were all drier than average.

"In June and July, we had rain and the lake levels went up, but we haven't had much rain since," Ford said. Recent storms went around Lorida, he said.

There's a good chance — if central Florida doesn't get more rain — of South Florida Water Management District wanting to draw more water from the lake for agriculture, Ford told the 20 committee members and staffers from Highlands County and the state of Florida.

"I can see there's going to be more demand on water downstream," Ford said.

"The lake can possibly stand to be down to 36.5 feet," Ford speculated, "but if we do that, it could drop further."

Okeechobee

In July 2005, Randy Smith, spokesman for SFWMD, said Istokpoga was at 38.25 feet above sea level, just inches away from being at an acceptable, safe level.

At the same time, Lake Okeechobee had reached its highest level in 70 years at 16.69 feet, Smith said.
Okeechobee, said SFWMD's Paul Ritter on Wednesday, has been standing at 9.5 feet for the past 1 1/2 months.

"It should be at 13 feet, and we're going into the (dry) season," he warned. "We must be mentally prepared."

Why haven't other alternatives been developed, Ford was asked.

One idea was that farmers should dig their own reservoirs and their own wells, Ford said. Some have, and they've discovered artesian wells at 1,500 feet deep that flow into canals, which water their crops.
Another idea was to dig holes, pump excess rainwater in the ground, and pump it back out during a drought, Ford said. That hasn't happened. Nor has the idea of large reservoirs, because they occupy at least 10,000 acres of land, costs millions, and take 10-20 years to obtain the permits and get the work done.

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