Many Ignore Florida's Drought
The water police are crawling all over Florida these days, trying to keep water use to a minimum as the state struggles with its worst drought in decades.
Despite restrictions that stretch across the state, reports CBS News Correspondent Bobbi Harley, people are using water to sprinkle lawns or wash cars. Many people, it seems, just haven't noticed the crisis.
One water violator, Kevin McCarthy, told CBS News, "I haven't seen any notices or anything."
Part of the problem is that water's everywhere here — in the bays, the beaches, the lagoons and the lakes. Floridians are surrounded by so much water it's hard to convince them there's a problem.
"It is a real situation and people may not take it as seriously as they should right now, but it's only going to get a little bit worse until it possibly gets better, and we don't know for sure when it will get better," said James Lushine, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Vegetation as dry as hay has caused more than 300 fires this year, including on giant lake Okeechobee, the second largest lake in America, which is so parched that parts of the lake bottom are burning.
The shortage is blamed on an extremely dry season and a statewide water system too dilapidated to handle any shortfalls.
"It's 50 years old," said South Florida Water Management District official Roman Gastesi of the system. "It's designed for 2 million people and we have 6 million people now."
The South Florida district is now enforcing what it calls phase 2 water restrictions — if the situation worsens, the district can institute phase 3 or phase 4. These prohibit rinsing sidewalks or filling swimming pools; permit car washing only during certain hours of certain days; and tightly control the watering of lawns and crops.
Water officials face a delicate balancing act: if water levels get too low, salt water from the Atlantic Ocean will move in and contaminate the system, causing damage far greater than any drought.
For now, there is enough water to keep nursery plants alive, and the state's agricultural industry, which generates more than a billion dollars annually, is not yet threatened.
Yet the rainy season is still months away, and forecasters predict any relief short of a hurricane may provide no relief at all.
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency's Drought Monitor, several areas of the country are experiencing precipitation shortfalls. Most of the drought areas are considered "abnormally dry," while a few spots are said to be suffering droughts of "moderate" or "severe" degree.
Florida, however, is incredibly dry, with pockets of drought labeled "extreme" or "exceptional." NOAA says 2000 was Florida's driest year on record, and 2001 isn't saping up any better.
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