It’s late September, and with rain falling almost each day in Southwest Florida, it could be tough for many individuals to consider that we will nonetheless be in a drought, however Audubon’s long-term knowledge from Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary say simply that.
How can we nonetheless be in a drought?
The Sanctuary has obtained below-average rainfall for 19 of the previous 22 months. Cumulatively, we’re 31 inches under our common since November of 2024. To flee drought circumstances, we want considerably extra rainfall to refill the aquifer and re-saturate the panorama.
How can we measure water on the Sanctuary?
Whereas rainfall measurements come from rain gauges in numerous elements of the Sanctuary, the water-level workers gauge on the Sanctuary’s North Lettuce Lake offers a superb snapshot of how rainfall interprets to swamp water ranges. This gauge is in one of many deepest elements of the cypress slough and is the place workers has been recording water ranges because the late Nineteen Fifties.
In current many years, water ranges at this gauge often fall under the bottom towards the top of the winter “dry” season in March or April. Water would usually keep under floor till summer time rains start, signaling the beginning of the “moist” season, and by early July, the water degree rises again above floor.
This 12 months, water began to come back again above floor and refilled the Lettuce Lakes in early July – however then rainfall lessened, and water ranges fell under floor once more. The lakes had been dry for a few weeks earlier than rainfall returned and water ranges lastly rose in early September. As of mid-September, our water-level workers gauge tells us that water ranges are nonetheless a foot decrease than the place they often are.
Why is long-term knowledge so vital?
Audubon’s long-term knowledge assist put this 12 months’s variability into perspective, permitting for comparability between what we’re seeing this 12 months and what has been seen over the previous 70 years.
Have we ever skilled one thing like this earlier than?
It seems the lowered rainfall we’ve seen within the final two years is sort of much like the drought final seen in 2007-2008, in addition to different years earlier than then, in 1989-1990, 1975-1976, and 1963-1965. The shortage of rainfall we’re experiencing is one thing the ecosystem has skilled about each 10-15 years because the Sanctuary opened.
So it’s all about rain then?
Nope! Rain is just a part of the story. Evapotranspiration (ET) is the method of water shifting from the earth’s floor into the environment by evaporation and plant “respiratory.” This is likely one of the most vital points of the water cycle in South Florida. Hotter temperatures lead to extra ET, so the record-breaking spring and summer time temperatures we’ve been seeing have been additional drying our panorama in a method we haven’t skilled earlier than, and local weather fashions predict this elevated ET will proceed because the globe warms.
Okay, so it’s all about rain and evapotranspiration?
There’s extra! One other issue that makes the present drought worse for Corkscrew Swamp than earlier droughts is that it’s taking place along with the overdrainage of the swamp that has been the reason for drier circumstances because the early 2000s. The mix of low rainfall, excessive ET, and overdrainage of floor water is what has led to the close to record-breaking low water ranges within the Sanctuary this summer time.
What are the dangers of this low water?
We had been lucky to keep away from an energetic wildfire season this 12 months, however the drier circumstances have direct unfavorable results on fish and crayfish populations, which straight impression predators like wading birds and alligators. Sanctuary workers have even seen understory plant communities alongside the boardwalk change this 12 months in response to the dry circumstances.
What occurs now?
Fortunately for the Wooden Storks and cypress timber, it seems like some aid is on the way in which. Within the coming months, we’re anticipated to see rainier-than-normal circumstances due to the Tremendous El Niño that has fashioned over the Pacific Ocean. This rainfall would assist us to recharge our wetlands, restocking our water reserves for wildlife and other people. Whereas moist circumstances this winter wouldn’t be good for Wooden Stork nesting this 12 months, it might set the stage for a really robust nesting season the next 12 months.
An answer for the Sanctuary’s overdrainage is coming into sight as properly, as South Florida Water Administration District’s Corkscrew Watershed Initiative wraps up this winter, offering a roadmap for restoration tasks to enhance dry season water ranges within the swamp. Efforts to carry water in our freshwater wetlands will change into extra vital than ever as our panorama and local weather proceed to vary. Wetlands like these right here at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed are essential for our area’s resilience within the face of local weather change and continued inhabitants progress in Florida.
