Good News for Farmers: SFWMD Lifts Water Restrictions

The South Florida Water Management District rescinded water shortage restrictions Thursday, finally giving farmers in the 16-county district a break. Lifting the restrictions will have the most impact on vegetable farmers, who saw their water allotments curtailed by 45 percent.

Florida ranks first in the value of production of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, sugarcane for sugar and seed, squash, watermelons, sweet corn, fresh-market snap beans, fresh-market tomatoes and fresh-market cucumbers, and second in the country in the value of production of strawberries, bell peppers and cucumbers for pickles.

The good news to prompt water managers' vote was that heavy rains in October raised the level of Lake Okeechobee 1 foot above the water shortage range. How likely is it that the lake will drop back into water shortage range during this dry season? Experts predict a less than 25 percent chance.

On Thursday the water level in the big lake was 13.79 feet, nearly 6 inches above its Nov. 10, 2010, 13.31 feet level, shortly before the start of the region's severe drought.
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