Kanapaha Prairie Flooded-Click
Periods of drought are common. Florida has had a drought for several years, and the water table has been steadily dropping. It is normal for this to happen. Nature has adjusted to it, and there are some systems that thrive because of the cycles of flood and low water tables. Dry periods are often ended by the heavy rains brought by hurricanes. Florida can certainly do without the winds of a big storm, but the water is nature's way of restoring the aquifer levels. Again, this pattern has been going on for centuries. But what is different now? The increases in population have spilled into rural areas in the form of sprawl. Formerly productive farm land and undeveloped areas have been bulldozed into cement and asphalt havens for humans who don't want to have any contact with truly natural conditions. |
Yuppie lawns need huge amounts of water and chemicals to grow in this climate. The more people irrigate fancy lawns, the more precious water is pulled out of the available supply.
The other side of the coin is flooding. Because permits have been approved for building in areas that are known to have had flooding in their history, some homeowners have watched water ruin possessions. Yet the City of Gainesville is planning to allow special permits to develop wetlands and flood streams. The natural cycles occur no matter what kind of development is permitted. 
Kanapaha Prairie Home-Click
The amount of safe water is finite. Already water management districts are restricting irrigation and, in some cases, permits for new uses. There is a mad rush for growth, fed by the lure of huge profits, even though it means the destruction of the ecosystem. It must be controlled now while it is still possible to save the water supply. |