published: Saturday, February 16, 2013

Don't let one day fool you

By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY

christopher.tuffley@newssun.com

SEBRING -- As a result of an extended period without rain, the aquifer serving Highlands County has dropped significantly since Jan. 18, 2013.

On Jan. 25, the aquifer stood at 1.43 feet, down approximately a quarter of an inch from the week before.

By Feb. 6, it had fallen to 0.17 feet, down 1.15 inches from Feb. 1.

Thursday's update by the Southwest Florida Water Management District reports the aquifer is in the negative range, at - 0.68 inches.

The bad news is normal fluctuation is between one to eight inches.

The good news is, the aquifer is higher than it was a year ago at this time, -1.82 inches below the minimum normal.

As for rain -- from Jan. 1-23, the region received only 0.18 inches of rain.

In the first week of February, there was virtually no rainfall at all, just 0.01 inches. In the week since, not counting Thursday, only 0.06 inches of rain fell.

For a sense of context, the historic record of rain fall for this time of year is 2.59 inches.

Water conservation remains important.