NEWS

St. Johns River dips to record lows

Jim Waymer
FLORIDA TODAY
The dark water line on a barrier at  Camp Holly shows how the water level was once much higher.

The St. Johns River — a major source of drinking water in east Central Florida — has evaporated to some of the lowest water levels seen in more than half a century, risking toxic algae blooms that could complicate water treatment.

But it's not all bad along the 310-mile meandering river, which flows from headwaters west of Vero to the ocean in Jacksonville. Wading birds benefit from easier catches of fish trapped in smaller spaces. Fishermen could do the same, if they can keep from getting stuck in the muck. Airboat ecotours more readily find gators and other critters cramped closer together in the deeper waters they seek. But boaters must navigate narrower, shallower waters, putting them at risk of running aground or into each other.

"If you don't have an airboat, you probably shouldn't be on the river right now," said Dennis Inman, owner of Twister Airboat Rides in Cocoa.

He's recently towed several stranded jet boats, bass boats and other vessels that draft too deep.

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Melbourne officials say the city is monitoring Lake Washington, the source of two thirds of the city's drinking water supply, but the treatment plant hasn't had any problems yet with the low lake levels. Less water in the lake concentrates nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients that can spur excess blue-green algae. When disinfected, the algae releases toxins hard to filter from drinking water, increasing lifetime risk of liver cancer and other cancers.

A drier river also kills off water hyacinth and other invasive plants that clog out native species, he said, saving the St. Johns River Water Management District the cost and pollution of spraying herbicides to kill the weeds.

Counties in the 18-county St. Johns district with the least rainfall this month are Orange, Brevard, Osceola and Okeechobee counties, with each having had less than one inch of rain so far this month.

In April, the district enacted a burn ban for all district-owned properties because of severe wildfire risk.

On Tuesday, the St. Johns River district's Governing Board approved expanding a current water shortage warning order to include all counties within the district, stressing voluntary conservation. Conditions have yet to keep cities from meeting demand, but warrant heightened conservation awareness, district officials said.



Melbourne's 10.7 inches of rain this year was 3.4 inches below normal, according to the National Weather Service.

A weir at Lake Washington helps keep the lake level higher than surrounding stretches of the St. Johns, helping secure supply.

Based on 77 years of records at the St Johns River in Melbourne, the current water level is above the record low by about 2½ feet, according to the St. Johns district.

But based on 82 years of records, the St Johns River in Christmas is at .76 feet, only .06 feet above the record low of 0.67 set in 1976, district officials said.

In Cocoa, the river's current water level of 8.30 feet is 0.26 feet below the previous record low of 8.56 feet set in 1975. That's based on 62 years of data, district officials said.

Lake Poinsett — an outcropping of the St. Johns west of Cocoa and Rockledge — recently showed the water level lower than it's been in more than 60 years, according to a U.S. Geological Survey gauge.

"I'm looking out at stuff that was under water last summer that has grass growing on it," said Doug Sphar, who's lived on the lake since the early 1960s. "You just don't see the pleasure boats, because there's just not enough depth."

He sees more displaced alligators heading to deeper water in canals and more roseate spoonbills prancing around the mud flats in search of food.

The health of the river depends on rising and falling water levels, within reason, he said.

"I think the key thing is it doesn't last too long," Sphar said. "The flow's gone to zero. With temperatures going up, we'll get an algae bloom."

 Contact Waymer at 321-242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @JWayEnviro or www.facebook/jim.waymer

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