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Florida is in the grip of its worst drought in at least 14 years, and the effects are starting to show up in everyday ways.
If you sit down at a restaurant in the coming weeks, don’t be surprised if no one brings water to the table unless you ask.
That’s one of several changes tied to new water restrictions from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), which has declared a modified Phase III “Extreme” water shortage across much of West Central Florida, including Polk County.
Tighter restrictions start April 3
In late January, the district declared a Phase II “Severe” water shortage, limiting lawn irrigation to once a week starting Feb. 8 after months of dry weather and falling water levels. The latest order marks a further tightening of rules as the drought persists.
The new Phase III rules take effect April 3 and are scheduled to remain in place through July 1.
How to comply with restrictions
- Lawn watering is permitted only once a week on your assigned day, between midnight to 4 a.m. or 8 p.m. to midnight.
- Car washing is allowed on your day only, with a shutoff nozzle.
- Decorative fountains are limited to four hours per day.
- Pressure washing is allowed in preparation for painting or sealing, but not for aesthetic purposes.
- Restaurants must serve water by request only.
The restrictions keep once-a-week lawn watering in place but tighten the hours. Unless local governments have stricter rules, irrigation is now limited to overnight windows, and properties less than one acre can use only one of those time slots.
If your address ends in:
- 0 or 1, you can only water on Monday
- 2 or 3, on Tuesday
- 4 or 5, on Wednesday
- 6 or 7, on Thursday
- 8 or 9, on Friday, along with locations with a mix of addresses or for which an address cannot be determined (such as common areas associated with a subdivision)
Low-volume watering of plants and shrubs is allowed any day but is limited to before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
When announcing the tighter restrictions, SWFWMD cited the growing rainfall deficit, falling aquifer, river, and lake levels, and public water supplies that are “extremely low for this time of year.”
Lakeland typically gets about 49 inches of rain a year, much of it during the summer rainy season. But the region is now about 13.7 inches below normal — a shortfall large enough to lower lakes, stress vegetation, and trigger emergency water restrictions.
Lakes are feeling the strain
Lake Bonny — which flooded badly during Hurricane Milton two years ago — has now dropped below its normal “operating range.” Its water level was measured at 127.66 feet on March 23, about one to two feet below its typical range.
Lake Beulah and Lake Wire are also below their operating ranges, according to city data collected March 19.
“It’s not at the optimal level for the ecological health of the lake,” Lakeland Lakes & Stormwater Manager Laurie Smith said.
Lower water levels expose shoreline areas that are normally submerged, stressing or killing native aquatic plants that stabilize banks and provide habitat. Without that vegetation, stormwater flows into lakes more quickly, carrying nutrients and sediment, Smith said.
Those conditions can also make it easier for invasive plants to take hold.
Lake Bonny is particularly vulnerable because it is a closed basin, meaning it depends almost entirely on rainfall and groundwater — both of which are currently in short supply.
A widespread, deepening drought
All 67 Florida counties are now experiencing some level of drought, marking the most widespread dry conditions in more than 20 years.
A March 19 report from the National Weather Service shows southern Polk County in extreme drought, central Polk in severe drought, and northern Polk in moderate drought. Many locations rank among the five driest on record for the period from September through mid-March.
Statewide, more than 72% of Florida is in the two most severe drought categories.
Drought can increase the risk of sinkholes in Florida. As groundwater levels drop, the underground support that helps hold up the region’s limestone can weaken, making collapses more likely — especially if heavy rain follows a prolonged dry spell.
The dry conditions are also raising wildfire risk.
Polk County has been under a burn ban since Nov. 25, and officials say it remains in effect as drought conditions persist.
The ban prohibits campfires, yard waste burning, and other outdoor fires. Violations can result in fines of up to $500 or jail time.
Stretching limited water supplies
City officials are trying to conserve what water they can.
In lakes with control structures — including Lake Hollingsworth, Lake Mirror, and Lake Morton — the city is holding water in place rather than releasing it downstream, Smith said.
That’s part of a broader effort to slow the loss of water across the system, where low rainfall and groundwater levels are affecting not just lakes, but also streams and rivers that depend on them.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District says the restrictions are meant to stretch limited supplies as the region moves deeper into its dry season, which typically lasts until late May or early June.
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Water sources in all of Fl. are not unlimited. This is not the first time water restrictions have been issued. My wife and I have lived in Florida for 60 plus yrs. and been through a few water restrictions. I have never read where the SWMD makes any decisions on the out-of-control building that has been allowed throughout the state. They only react when it becomes critical. We can’t continue to depend on the rainy season to fill the lakes and aquifers. Here in Polk County large residential and apartment complexes continue to be approved. When does it stop?? If you can’t supply the water then common sense tells you until that happens all future projects should be put on hold.