BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A St. John’s River Water Management District official said the water level in Lake Brooklyn rose by three-tenths of a foot in July.
The district’s water resource information bureau chief, Tim Miller, said Nassau, Duval, Bradford, and Clay counties received more than two inches of rain above their monthly averages.
He added that the district’s southern counties lagged behind those in the north, with Nassau County recording 9.71 inches of precipitation in July and Brevard County receiving only 3.84 inches.
The district’s 12-month rolling average remained three-fourths of an inch below the annual average of 51.01 inches.
However, Nassau, Volusia, Clay, and Bradford counties are more than two inches above their 12-month averages, and Alachua County is more than five inches below its 12-month average.
Miller reported that river flow levels remained in the average range throughout the district, with flows in the St. Johns River’s upper basin lower than those in the lower basin, reflecting more rainfall in the northern portions of the district.
The bureau chief said aquifer levels increased in July, bringing most aquifer readings to the normal range except for Duval, St. Johns, and Flagler counties.
“Very low conditions persist along portions of the northern coast,” he said of aquifer levels, “continuing to highlight urban zones which had experienced increased irrigation pressures due to consecutive months of below normal rainfall prior to July.”
