After a wet July, portions of the District left abnormally dry

While some areas in the central and northern region of the St. Johns River Water Management District received more than 10 inches of rain, portions of the District, including parts of Brevard and Osceola counties, were left abnormally dry as reported in the U.S. Drought Monitor.

A full report outlining July hydrologic conditions was presented at the District’s Governing Board meeting Tuesday. Highlights include:

Rainfall

• Districtwide, July rainfall averaged 7.02 inches, which is 0.18 inches above the average for the month.
• Nassau County had the most rainfall, with a countywide average of 9.1 inches.
• Brevard County received the least amount of rainfall at only 4.9 inches.
• Districtwide, the cumulative rainfall total for the past 12 months is 49.53 inches, which is 1.48 inches below the long-term average.

Groundwater 

• Upper Floridan aquifer conditions (groundwater levels) at the end of July were mostly in the normal range across the District, except for eastern Duval and northern St. Johns counties, where conditions were in the low or very low range.
• Groundwater levels expressed as a single Districtwide index are at the 65th percentile Districtwide. This means that since 1980, aquifer levels have been higher than they currently are about 35 percent of the time. 

Spring flows

• The mean monthly flow at Silver Springs decreased to 593 cubic feet per second (cfs), or 383 mgd, which is a 25 cfs decrease from June’s mean, but still in the normal range for this time of year.
• At the Blue Spring station in Volusia County, the mean monthly flow was 145 cfs, or 94 mgd.
• At Rock Springs, the monthly mean flow increased 1 cfs to 58 cfs (38mgd), which is in the normal range for July.
• Mean monthly flow at Wekiwa Springs decreased to 69 cfs (45 mgd), which is in the high range for the time of year. 

To learn more about rainfall totals and other hydrologic data collected, visit www.sjrwmd.com.    

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St. Johns River Water Management District staff are committed to ensuring the sustainable use and protection of water resources for the benefit of the people of the District and the State of Florida. The St. Johns River Water Management District is one of five districts in Florida managing groundwater and surface water supplies in the state. The District encompasses all or part of 18 northeast and east-central Florida counties. District headquarters are in Palatka, and staff also are available to serve the public at service centers in Apopka, Jacksonville and Palm Bay.  

For more information about the District, please visit www.sjrwmd.com.