Droughts

Even with tough new water-use restrictions and farmers' conservation measures, the Everglades might still need to be tapped to ensure ample drinking water for South Florida, water managers told Gov. Charlie Crist and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) on Monday. At an emergency meeting on Florida's drought, the political leaders also learned that the state appears to be destined for more than a summer's dry spell and heavy wildfire season.

Around this time each year, thousands make the pilgrimage to the Antelope Valley to see California poppies shining in the fields around Anne Aldrich's Lancaster home. "There are fields of orange, just like in 'The Wizard of Oz' when you first spot the Emerald City," Aldrich said. But not in 2007, as Southern California is poised to experience its driest year on record. "We don't have poppies this year. This is about the worst we've seen," she said. "It's desert-brown."

Federal meteorologists expect "extreme" drought conditions this summer in Southern California, offering more bad news for firefighters who are already dealing with record dry weather. The forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dashed the hopes of some officials that the region's bone-dry winter and spring would give way to a mild summer.

Bulldozers replaced bass boats on a dried patch of Lake Okeechobee on Thursday, scraping away tons of polluted muck. Taking advantage of near-record-low water levels amid a severe drought, water managers have work crews digging out pollution-laden muck from exposed areas in the western and southern portions of the lake.

The water level in the lake that serves as the main backup water supply for 5 million South Florida residents dropped to a record low Thursday. Lake Okeechobee was at 8.94 feet, below the mark of 8.97 feet set during a 2001 drought, the South Florida Water Management District reported. The average level should be about 13 feet this time of year. "There is no joy over this record-breaking event," said Carol Ann Wehle, the district's executive director.

The record-breaking dry weather is driving all manner of creepy, crawly things much closer to humans. Swimming pools and outdoor ponds are attracting bugs and thirsty rodents. Possums, even raccoons, are venturing closer to human habitation, hoping to find a leaking faucet or open garbage can, vegetable garden or bowl of pet food. "Bugs and rodents need food and water," said Todd Veden, a technical specialist for Terminex, a pest control company.

At the stroke of midnight tonight, Southern California will mark a milestone that few are celebrating. History will show that from July 1 of 2006 to June 30 of this year, only 3.21 inches of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles -- the lowest precipitation level since records started being kept in the 1880s. Other cities around the region, including Pasadena, Culver City, Anaheim and Riverside, will also set all-time records.

Acknowledging the specter of drought, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed Monday for a $6-billion investment in water works, while the Democratic leader of the state Senate called for a $5-billion water bond measure on next year's ballot. The maneuverings by the two politicians virtually ensure that voters will be asked next year to approve billions of dollars in spending for water projects -- including, perhaps, two new dams and a canal to siphon the Sacramento River.

Conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas once famously grumbled that Lake Okeechobee, the liquid heart of her beloved Everglades, had been poisoned by man's careless disposal of "pesticides, fertilizer, dead cats and old boots." She didn't know about the 1920s steamship, rusty anchors, tractor tires, fishing-boat motors, settlers' stovepipes, Native American tools and jewelry, and the bones of man and beast dating back thousands of years. All were hauled from the lake bottom this summer.

After the driest year on record, the governor Thursday declared a state of emergency in Riverside County after severe, prolonged drought conditions caused an estimated $4 million in crop damage and reduced public water supplies. The unrelenting dry spell has heightened fire danger throughout Southern California's tinder-dry foothills, triggered voluntary water conservation in some parts of the state and has been unforgiving to many farmers, especially in inland counties.