Hurricane Ian soaks Orange County with over 18 inches of rainfall

A majority of the St. Johns River Water Management District received well above average rainfall in September thanks to Hurricane Ian. County-wide rainfall totals for the past 12 months ranged from a high of 72.3 inches in Seminole County to a low of 29.9 in Nassau County.

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

Rainfall

• Districtwide, September rainfall averaged 12.78 inches, which is 6.04 inches above the average for the month.
• Districtwide, the cumulative rainfall total for the past 12 months is 56.70 inches, which is 5.69 inches above the long-term average.

Groundwater 

• Upper Floridan aquifer conditions (groundwater levels) at the end of September were mostly in the normal to high range across the District.
• Groundwater levels expressed as a single Districtwide index are at the 68th percentile Districtwide. This means that since 1980, aquifer levels have been higher than they currently are about 22 percent of the time. 

Spring flows

• The mean monthly flow at Silver Springs increased to 641 cubic feet per second (cfs), or 415 million gallons per day (mgd), which is a 42 cfs increase from August’s mean and remains in the normal range for this time of year.
• At the Blue Spring station in Volusia County, the mean monthly flow was 146 cfs, or 94 mgd.
• At Rock Springs, the monthly mean flow increased 3 cfs to 62 cfs (40 mgd), which is in the normal range for September.
• Mean monthly flow at Wekiwa Springs increased to 65 cfs (42 mgd), which is in the normal range for the time of year. 

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

Visit WaterLessFlorida.com for tips to help landscapes thrive while saving water and money. Follow the water conservation conversation at #sjrwmd #waterconservation #savewater.

About the St. Johns River Water Management District

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.