MIAMI — Water worries are persisting across Miami-Dade and Monroe counties as a water shortage warning remains in effect.
“I just heard about this, but it’s been already a week and a half; it’s really, really, really dry,” said Miami resident Maria Louisa Wells. “You can feel it. If you have any contact with your own grass or your own yard, you have to know that it’s really dry.”
With less than four inches of rain falling since November, the South Florida Water Management District has issued a warning, urging residents to voluntarily cut back on water use.
That includes skipping unnecessary car washes and reducing dishwasher use. Officials say if conditions continue to decline, mandatory water restrictions could follow.
Many residents in Miami say they’re already altering their water usage in response to the dry conditions.
“This area in particular complies a lot; people comply,” Wells said. “Myself, I don’t have grass. I have plants, and so I water (them) with a watering can now. And my showers are shorter—under five minutes, even less.”
The warning impacts all of Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys. Below-average rainfall is currently draining the Biscayne Aquifer, which serves as the primary source of drinking water for much of South Florida.
The drought, which is stretching across the entire state, is already taking a toll on local businesses like Plasencia Nursery.
“Absolutely that concerns us. We try to keep our plants growing the best they can,“ Gladys Plasencia said. ”They need water right now and that’s the way we’re bringing them back.”
Environmental monitors watching the Everglades closely say the consequences of the drought could be far-reaching.
“We’re talking an area that spans millions of acres of South Florida that also depends on water,” Steve Davis, with the Everglades Foundation, said. “The aquatic wildlife and fisheries all hinge on this.”
Wells said the shift in habits is a matter of community responsibility.
“I mean, you have to be conscious; it’s a civic duty, I think, of everybody to do this,” she said. “And I think if everybody would do it, then we’d be fine.”
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