Our Severe Drought: water restrictions?

[Smalley]

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

[Ruger2506]

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

Not sure about the effect on the neighborhoods. But I can tell you the healthy life cycle of a pond includes drought and low water levels. Many of the Villages ponds look terrible unhealthy. They could use a good drought.

[Altavia]

Must be plenty of upper aquifer water available.

The lake at Eastport and retention ponds in the new construction areas are full of blue, clear water...

[Bill14564]

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

Many (most? all?) the ponds can be fed from one of the aquifers if needed. Some ponds just provide additional storage capacity and can go dry without causing a problem.

At least between 466 and 44, the fire hydrants are fed by irrigation water which comes from the ponds. The District will be paying very close attention to that.

When restrictions were announced last year by the two water authorities (SWFWMD and SJRWMD), it looked like the Villages' recommended irrigation schedule was in compliance.

It would be useful to see a statement about the drought in the District Weekly Bulletin.

[biker1]

We are definitely below normal for YTD rainfall but we are also still in the dry season. June, July, Aug, and Sept is the rainy season. It will start raining regularly soon.

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

[Jim1mack]

IMO the ponds were drawn down way, way, way too low after the last two hurricanes. Grass is growing where water levels should be. No appreciable rain in my weather apps 45 day forecast. I golf executive and championship courses five days a week and fear the courses are headed to the deteriated conditions they were last year.

[biker1]

There are 3 month outlooks (for regions) for precip and temperature from the CPC but day by day forecasts are limited to about 15 days and the skill that far out can be nonexistent depending the larger scale flow.



IMO the ponds were drawn down way, way, way too low after the last two hurricanes. Grass is growing where water levels should be. No appreciable rain in my weather apps 45 day forecast. I golf executive and championship courses five days a week and fear the courses are headed to the deteriated conditions they were last year.

[tophcfa]

Not sure about the effect on the neighborhoods. But I can tell you the healthy life cycle of a pond includes drought and low water levels. Many of the Villages ponds look terrible unhealthy. They could use a good drought.

Happens every year. Before you know it the daily intense thunder and lightning storms will fill the ponds to the point where they start pumping water out of them to make room for the dumpings when a wave of potential tropical storms start blowing through.

[Stu from NYC]

Lots of brown grass around here, hopefully rain will start soon.

[mraines]

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

This is Florida. Not much caring about the environment.

[Ruger2506]

This is Florida. Not much caring about the environment.

Sadly that's true. I've never seen a state with so much natural beauty to lose care so little about it. FL, the land of the all mighty developer dollar.

[kkingston57]

Sadly that's true. I've never seen a state with so much natural beauty to lose care so little about it. FL, the land of the all mighty developer dollar.

Seems this year is worse than the last 3-4 years. Never seen any pond/lake bone dry before. Most people do not know this but in 1999 wildfires were all over north central Florida. Might be the same this year

[Old Traveller]

The dry season ends the last full week of May. Write it down. Mother Nature flips a switch and the heat, humidity and afternoon storms roll in. The Villages drained the ponds pretty good before the last hurricane of 2024, Milton I believe. However, the Villages didn't get the anticipated rain, thus a shortage. But, that's better than homes flooding if Milton had dropped 20 inches of rain. Homes in the Villages north of 466 use all potable water from the aquifer. Homes south of 466 use non potable water for landscaping and potable water for homes and our outside hoses from the aquifer. However, if the ponds dry up they use potable water from the aquifer for landscaping. Tom Hanks is narrating a series on television called "The Americas". Hanks said Florida's aquifer is over a thousand feet deep in some areas. He said every rain storm drops billions of gallons of water. The rivers flowing into Crystal Springs Florida, where the manatees hang out in the winter, delivers between 800 to 500 million gallons of water per day.

[Bill14564]

Seems this year is worse than the last 3-4 years. Never seen any pond/lake bone dry before. Most people do not know this but in 1999 wildfires were all over north central Florida. Might be the same this year

Florida wildfire map (https://ffs.firesponse.com/public/)

[AZ SLIM]

By the end of last summer with all the rainfall I became tired of fighting the cinch bugs and fungus in our St. Augustine grass. I swore I would never complain about lack of rain again. Well, I am ready for rain. Does this make me a bad person?

[asianthree]

I pulled up pics from 2008 ponds were overflowing during April, of course TV growth was mostly to newly LSL.

April 2010 the ponds looked exactly the same as today, except 8’ gators were more frequent. Traveling to and from our house you had to be careful driving between ponds because of large gator crossing.

So not much different in pics since 2010. However retention ponds in 2017 Irma with tunnels flooded not passable to 2024 Milton is hard to gage. Most Ponds didn’t exist but were definitely at highest depths. Tunnels didn’t see the large tunnel flooding with Milton.

Every year a thread is started about “why are the Ponds So Low” in a few months the tread title “why are the ponds overflowing and the sprinklers are running 24/7”

[Nana2Teddy]

IMO the ponds were drawn down way, way, way too low after the last two hurricanes. Grass is growing where water levels should be. No appreciable rain in my weather apps 45 day forecast. I golf executive and championship courses five days a week and fear the courses are headed to the deteriated conditions they were last year.
Exactly! After the last hurricane had us flush with water everywhere they should’ve left those ponds full and let nature take its course. We had so much water we’d still have full ponds now. Draining the ponds as much as they do after a hurricane by running the sprinklers constantly on already saturated grass will never make sense to me. Now we not only have half empty or totally empty ponds everywhere except the new areas of course, but they’ve stopped running the sprinklers too so all of the grass common areas (at least down south here) are dry, brown, and ugly. What a crazy, nonsensical system.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Every year a thread is started about “why are the Ponds So Low” in a few months the tread title “why are the ponds overflowing and the sprinklers are running 24/7”

The weather channel TWC just had a small segment on the FL drought, where down South Florida, there is an extreme section. Their note: We are one to two thunderstorms away from back to normal.

Rainy season is May 15th to October 15th, which is mostly standard hurricane season.

TWC is expecting rain to return sometime next week. .

patience, grasshopper, patience

[Nana2Teddy]

The dry season ends the last full week of May. Write it down. Mother Nature flips a switch and the heat, humidity and afternoon storms roll in. The Villages drained the ponds pretty good before the last hurricane of 2024, Milton I believe. However, the Villages didn't get the anticipated rain, thus a shortage. But, that's better than homes flooding if Milton had dropped 20 inches of rain. Homes in the Villages north of 466 use all potable water from the aquifer. Homes south of 466 use non potable water for landscaping and potable water for homes and our outside hoses from the aquifer. However, if the ponds dry up they use potable water from the aquifer for landscaping. Tom Hanks is narrating a series on television called "The Americas". Hanks said Florida's aquifer is over a thousand feet deep in some areas. He said every rain storm drops billions of gallons of water. The rivers flowing into Crystal Springs Florida, where the manatees hang out in the winter, delivers between 800 to 500 million gallons of water per day.
Actually, they significantly drained the ponds after Milton, which was our last hurricane. If they’d left the water alone at that time since no new storms were in the forecast, we’d still have full ponds now. This flood prevention system would make sense if it was used sensibly, but it’s not.

[jimkerr]

IMO the ponds were drawn down way, way, way too low after the last two hurricanes. Grass is growing where water levels should be. No appreciable rain in my weather apps 45 day forecast. I golf executive and championship courses five days a week and fear the courses are headed to the deteriated conditions they were last year.

Agreed. I thought that when I saw how much they pumped out of the ponds in Linden, Fenny, Desoto and Monarch Grove. I’m sure other areas are the same.

[Babubhat]

Similar to NSCUDD, WUDD receives excess reclaim from the City of Leesburg to supplement The Villages supply. Periods of low rainfall and reclaim are supplemented by mostly Lower Floridan groundwater. Due to a few previously developed Upper Floridan wells, this irrigation system is not quite 100% alternatively sourced.


What is My Water Source? | VillagesWaterWisdom (https://www.waterwisdomuniversity.com/what-is-my-water-source)

[Nana2Teddy]

The weather channel TWC just had a small segment on the FL drought, where down South Florida, there is an extreme section. Their note: We are one to two thunderstorms away from back to normal.

Rainy season is May 15th to October 15th, which is mostly standard hurricane season.

TWC is expecting rain to return sometime next week. .

patience, grasshopper, patience
In the meantime common area lawns in our village have died because they’ve stopped watering, and we have ponds that are completely empty. From our experience it takes all summer and a hurricane or two to refill the ponds, only to see the villages empty them again after the final hurricane for no reason. Crazy!

[Minoletti]

get you some soon FORE!!

[Danube]

Exactly! After the last hurricane had us flush with water everywhere they should’ve left those ponds full and let nature take its course. We had so much water we’d still have full ponds now. Draining the ponds as much as they do after a hurricane by running the sprinklers constantly on already saturated grass will never make sense to me. Now we not only have half empty or totally empty ponds everywhere except the new areas of course, but they’ve stopped running the sprinklers too so all of the grass common areas (at least down south here) are dry, brown, and ugly. What a crazy, nonsensical system.

///7

[golfing eagles]

In the meantime common area lawns in our village have died because they’ve stopped watering, and we have ponds that are completely empty. From our experience it takes all summer and a hurricane or two to refill the ponds, only to see the villages empty them again after the final hurricane for no reason. Crazy!

Crazy??? Maybe. Or maybe, just maybe, the experts that are in charge of water management know a bit more about it than the posters on TOTV. Just maybe :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

[biker1]

If you have questions about water management for a particular retention pond you can call Property Management at 352-753-4022. They will send a representative out to talk to you. I have found them very responsive. They do tend to keep the retention pond in back of my house a bit lower than I would prefer but I did understand their reasoning once they talked with me. Regarding grass, it tends to go dormant when there are dry conditions. We are still in the dry season and have also had below average precipitation this year. The rainy season is June, July, August, and September and the retention ponds will refill and the grass will green up.

Exactly! After the last hurricane had us flush with water everywhere they should’ve left those ponds full and let nature take its course. We had so much water we’d still have full ponds now. Draining the ponds as much as they do after a hurricane by running the sprinklers constantly on already saturated grass will never make sense to me. Now we not only have half empty or totally empty ponds everywhere except the new areas of course, but they’ve stopped running the sprinklers too so all of the grass common areas (at least down south here) are dry, brown, and ugly. What a crazy, nonsensical system.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Crazy??? Maybe. Or maybe, just maybe, the experts that are in charge of water management know a bit more about it than the posters on TOTV. Just maybe :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

or maybe human behavior can actually exxagerate local environmental patterns, as this area as pastureland did not have the mandated green lawn requirements, and the asphalt heat syncs can raise local temperatures and cause localized changes . .

FL wouldn't be FL without air conditioning. . and the millions of human migration into a small area cannot "not impact" the local environment. There is nothing which is unlimited on this earth, and there are local limits to everything as well. .

[merrymini]

I have seen it worst then this several years ago. They will begin restricting watering. Eventually, it starts to rain again.

[dtennent]

Having lived in a river town and seen the effects of flooding, you would be happy to look at low pond levels rather cleaning flood mud from your home. I have been impressed by the water management of ponds and the flood prevention of the areas south of 441. When Irma came through and dropped a huge amount of rain on us, the water behind our house did not over flow the banks and come into our house.

If the system is near its maximum capacity, it takes a few weeks to lower it to give a buffer for the next storm. A hurricane can form and hit us in less than 7 to 10 days.

[Stu from NYC]

In the meantime common area lawns in our village have died because they’ve stopped watering, and we have ponds that are completely empty. From our experience it takes all summer and a hurricane or two to refill the ponds, only to see the villages empty them again after the final hurricane for no reason. Crazy!

During the last hurricane we received 8 1/2 inches of rain during its passing. Remarkably no flooding.

The folks who designed and run our water systems have done an incredible job.

Be thankful.

[opinionist]

The lake I live on dried up to where the docks were on dry land last year. They are mostly on dry land now. When the rain came last year, the lake filled to where the docks were submerged underwater. They pumped water out once, and more rain submerged the docks again.

[Tvflguy]

May be a dumb question... How are NEW ponds filled - like the new ones down south? And how are some kept quite high? And are most of our ponds naturally filled with overflow rain/etc from the flood control system.

[RoadToad]

r.

Had the #1 years ago..

[Spiderman]

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

It is common in this part of Florida to experience a drought this time of year. I have often seen worse in my 20 some years, some droughts lasting from December to May with hardly a sprinkle. I actually thought we got off well in the weather department this year, cooler, more overcast and mildly damp. That is just my perception though.

[GPGuar]

Gee… what a surprise!

[HORNET]

2011 !

[jmpalladino]

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

You will never hear bad news from The Districts! They only report good news and fee increases. Time for Kenny Blocker to go!

[asianthree]

May be a dumb question... How are NEW ponds filled - like the new ones down south? And how are some kept quite high? And are most of our ponds naturally filled with overflow rain/etc from the flood control system.

One of Goldwing episodes, read an email from a resident in the North, that truly believed water was being removed from her pond during the night to fill the newer ponds in the south. :1rotfl:

[Maker]

If you live where ponds supply irrigation water, junk. Sediment, sand, organics, and even worms. It plugs up my inline filter (that I put in between the meter and the valve box) weekly. I can only imagine how those debris are plugging up sprinkler heads for everyone without a filter.
Wonder how that garbage messes up the water meter?

[jimjamuser]

Not sure about the effect on the neighborhoods. But I can tell you the healthy life cycle of a pond includes drought and low water levels. Many of the Villages ponds look terrible unhealthy. They could use a good drought.
Maybe nature always does the right thing, but what I have seen happen - is that as the lakes dry up the pelicans arrive in mass quantities from the coasts (I assume). They get in a line formation and DEVOUR every fish in the lake that they can get their HUGE beaks around.

[jimjamuser]

Must be plenty of upper aquifer water available.

The lake at Eastport and retention ponds in the new construction areas are full of blue, clear water...
So, "blue , clear water". that is good. My lake has green- brown yukky water in it from the OVER- fertilized yard run-off.

[jimjamuser]

This is Florida. Not much caring about the environment.
That's true and it is a shame because Florida has an environment that is more susceptible to problems compared with states further to the north. For example, Florida coral reefs, which are dying.

[Altavia]

May be a dumb question... How are NEW ponds filled - like the new ones down south? And how are some kept quite high? And are most of our ponds naturally filled with overflow rain/etc from the flood control system.

My understanding is they have the ability to pump upper aquifer water into the ponds.

They also can move water between ponds that are interconnected to the same system.

[tophcfa]

May be a dumb question... How are NEW ponds filled - like the new ones down south? And how are some kept quite high? And are most of our ponds naturally filled with overflow rain/etc from the flood control system.

Any way they possibly can until all the new houses build near the ponds are sold.

[jmaccallum]

Have any of you lived here long enough to have seen a drought this severe? The ponds are so low it's sad to see. But I haven't heard anything about water restrictions. What's the next step? Do we have enough water at this point that it's not a threat?

Every year this same question is asked. So, the annual answer, We are in our Dry Season. No rain and gusty winds - everyone watering their lawns and the Villages watering Golf Courses and Common Areas - so all ponds will lower. But never fear, our Rainy Season is just around the corner. Our ponds will quickly fill and everything brown will turn a lush green. Our Tropical weather will be back and you’ll almost be able to set your clock each day as the East winds and the West winds collide and bring downpours each afternoon. Then just behind that will be Hurricane Season. So get ready. Same weather cycle since coming here beginning in the 60’s. Personally I think this is some of the best weather we get all year. So relax and enjoy.

[Crazyladycruz]

Of course they are!!! Why take care of the northern sections We’re bought and paid for! No or most bonds are paid off.

[Cliff Fr]

This is Florida. Not much caring about the environment.

Not a true statement

[Bogie Shooter]

Of course they are!!! Why take care of the northern sections We’re bought and paid for! No or most bonds are paid off.

:what:

[Luisa]

Not worried, the boardwalk at Lake Sumter flooded last fall.

[Topspinmo]

I think some are confused between retention pond (man made) and natural pond spring feed or sinkhole depression that fills up with water. :popcorn: Retention ponds hold water over flow and may or may not have water all time, most likely they go dry every 4 or 5 years or so due to drought conditions. If developers made pond it’s retention pond.

You can bet they are thinking right now about raising water rated like they did 5 or years ago when like this year it didn’t hardly rain till June. After about 3 weeks of elevated water rates it started to rain and by end all July all ponds was over flowing. But higher rated didn’t come back down till end of October. :undecided:

[Ignatz]

Crazy??? Maybe. Or maybe, just maybe, the experts that are in charge of water management know a bit more about it than the posters on TOTV. Just maybe :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Shocking! 😳