As dry season persists, Lake Okeechobee is extremely low

Richard Bailey plowed his worn Teva sandals through the sugary sand while rounding a bend at the south end of Fisheating Creek.

He and his wife, Kathy, have paddled Fisheating the past six years, and they've never run aground before, not like this at least.

Typically the Maine couple paddles down this creek, the lone natural tributary flowing into Lake Okeechobee. But today Bailey is hoofing it, hoping the next bend in the creek will connect to open water.

"We've been coming for six years now and every time we've come down there's been enough water to go down as far as we want to go," Richard Bailey said after scouting the lower section of the creek. "We're not used to turning around because we go so far (down the creek), so we're not used to running out of water."

This dry season, which started Nov. 1 and will end May 31, has been very dry, the driest in nearly a decade according to South Florida Water Management District records.

Water flowing from Lake O to eastern Everglades for first time in nearly a century

Over the past decade, the 2016-17 dry season ranks second only to a 2008-09 season that left the region about 11 inches short of average.

Army Corps protocols say the surface of the lake should be kept between 12.5 and 15.5 feet above sea level to ensure water supply for utilities as well as protect tens of thousands of people living just south of Lake Okeechobee.

"That’s the lowest we have been since June 13, 2012 where we were 11.75 (feet above sea level), and during that stretch we got as low as 11.56 on May 15," said John Campbell, spokesman for the Army Corps' Jacksonville office. "We had an actual stoppage of water to the Caloosahatchee River that year."

The Caloosahatchee River was artificially connected to Lake Okeechobee about a century ago to drain the Everglades for farm land and development.

Today the river needs flows from Lake Okeechobee during dry seasons in order to stay healthy.

Flows have been lower than desired in recent months, and the Army Corps is currently trying to push 300 cubic feet per second of Lake Okeechobee through the Caloosahatchee River system.

Through April 21, Lee and Collier counties are about 7.5 inches below normal for rainfall, which has contributed greatly to the numerous wildfires that have raged across the region in recent weeks.

The lack of rain has caused water shortages in areas like Lehigh Acres — where homeowners are having to dig deeper or new wells to get access to water — and Cape Coral, where tougher water restrictions just went into effect.

"We haven't seen groundwater levels this low in nine years," said Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District.

And although a heavy wave of rain moved through the region over this past weekend, there's little hope of significant rainfall over the next five or six weeks.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there is an equal chance of above or below average rain for Florida in July, August and September — typically the wettest months of the year.

Rain isn't expected the rest of this week, according to National Weather Service predictions.

Lake Okeechobee Water Crisis: Southern flow not a silver bullet

The lake also functions as a backup water supply for the lower east coast.

Smith said the dry conditions have left South Florida's drainage system in good shape for the coming rainy season.

"Right now the water levels are low, which means there is plenty of room for a wet, wet season," Smith said. "You just have a lot of capacity at this point. There’s always a chance of extremes, but with the lake below 12 feet obviously that puts more room in the lake for storage."

Regular summer rains typically start in the first two weeks of June.

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Twitter. 

By the numbers

Rain during the dry season in Southwest Florida

2016-17: 7.5 inches below average*

2015-16: 8.8 inches above average 

2014-15: 1.2 inches below average

2013-14: 2.9 inches below average 

2012-13: 3.6 inches below average

2011-12: 7.4 inches below average 

2010-11: 3.3 inches below average 

2009-10: 8.2 inches above average

2008-09: 11 inches below average

2007-08: 3.5 inches below average

Source: South Florida Water Management District 

*Measurements through April 21