Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Water

We are having a severe water shortage in Southeast Florida. They say even if we go into the rainy season, which took its time showing up this year, the shortage may continue for a few more years.

The few clouds that show up on the radar screens, float out to the ocean. Every day, the weathermen tell us it will rain, but we don't get a drop. Okeechobee Lake that provides water to the area is several feet lower than the drought level and that is scary.

It isn't just we don't have enough water that is worrisome. Dry brush and other vegetation catch fire on its own under the hot subtropical sun. A few years ago, in our town, forty plus homes were destroyed. Just yesterday, fire from the everglades burned two homes.

Luckily, officials are on the job. We under water restriction laws. Watering the lawns is limited to one day a week for within four hours between 4-8 AM. Yesterday, someone was arrested and put to jail for flicking a burning cigarette on the ground. Burning anything is out.

We are not turning on the faucets full blast. Letting the water come threadlike does as much cleaning, anyhow. I started saving the water from washing the produce and giving it to the plants. They say any water we use should go on the ground, so it could seep underground.

On the west coast, Tampa has a plant that takes water from the ocean and takes the salt and other impurities out of it for use in the homes. I think those types of plants should start showing up in every coastal city in this state.

Although we get the highest amount of rain yearly here, most of it evaporates due to the heat. I remember, about ten years or so ago, we were getting so much rain even sudden showers from a cloud or two that used to emerge abruptly out of the blue sky. The rainy season used to start sometime in March. Now it is May...and nothing. If we get rain, it is like a drizzle, which immediately evaporates.

Although subtropics sometimes show inexplicable weather patterns, I am wondering if this year's draught has something to do with the climate change. In the meantime, we are keeping our fingers crossed for a little bit of rain.