PENSACOLA, Fla. — The Northwest Florida Water Management District sent out a “Water Shortage Warning” Thursday to 16 counties in Northwest Florida.<\/p>\n
It’s been seven years since an alert like that has been issued. The notice calls for people to voluntarily conserve water. <\/p>\n
WEAR News now reports on what this notice means and how you can help. Rainfall data shows Northwest Florida is experiencing moderate to severe drought conditions. <\/p>\n
Donnie Hicks works for the Northwest Florida Water Management District. He said the alert was sent out based on the data.<\/p>\n
“Looking at average rainfall, you know, I think we’re just over six inches lower than what we typically are,” Hicks said. “For the last 120 days. So we’ve gotten a good bit less and that’s been going on for even longer than 120 days.”<\/p>\n
Patrick Maddox is the director of public safety for Okaloosa County. He says the county measures drought conditions based on the Keetch Byram Drought Index (KBDI).<\/p>\n
The scale ranges from a level of 0, which means no drought concerns, to 800, which shows high drought conditions.<\/p>\n
“For us, we’re in the 200s and that keeps us relatively wet,” Maddox said. “So my job, at that point, is to look at what the conditions are and put out actual warnings for our expected local impacts, which is what I did for our area.”<\/p>\n
Hicks says he’s been in contact with Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) about the alert. ECUA issued a statement that said they’re not seeing the drought conditions that exists in other parts of the state.<\/p>\n
Hicks says Escambia County has had more rainfall compared to other parts of the Panhandle.<\/p>\n
Pace Water Systems in Santa Rosa County says they, too, are also not seeing effects of a drought. But both organizations say they always encourage people to conserve water.<\/p>\n
WEAR: “This alert is in no way, meaning that we’re about to run out of water, correct?”Hicks: “No, definitely not. Absolutely not. We again, we’re just noticing that the levels are lower than the typical level that we’re used to seeing in our area. So we just want to make sure we’re out in front of it before it does ever become an issue. That way we can stay ahead of it.”<\/p>\n
“That’s a no-brainer, why would you waste if you could conserve? Does that mean you can stop taking showers or putting water out for your animals, no it doesn’t. It means, if you don’t have to engage in mass irrigation at the moment, it’s probably a good idea to conserve, just in case the conditions get worse.”<\/p>\n