Florida Lake now completely empty

reply to post by getreadyalready


let's hope the ducks flew to a lake with no hunters to do them harm.

as to the poor fishes, so sad.

home owners must have to wait 'till the water comes back for property values to recover.

other than being abel to explore the bottom of this recuring lake, no winners in this scenario.

Great time for the metal detector.

Go to one of the popular beaches and search like crazy.

reply to post by getreadyalready


That is one reason I left Florida. I come from an old Florida family but saw what was happening. You can't just keep pumping the water out of the ground and think it will always be there. Look at the glades, I flew over them last year and was shocked to see barren regions where once there were might cypress stands. Look at Rainbo river or Manatee springs, they are mere shadows. I heard Manatee springs is dried up. Even the famous Silver springs is not what it used to be.

It is tragic the level of impact that man has had on the state. Even the Gulf is sick and dying. Good luck living there. Push the state government into Desalination and Reclaim water projects for all the golf courses.

Breaks my heart to hear this - but again, that is why I left the state.

Originally posted by loueber
wait... is the drain down a man made thing?
that hole where the water goes,, where does it lead? does someone turn a valve on or something to drain it?

thats very odd for it to do this isnt it? just all of a sudden it drains like that?

No, it isn't man-made. It is apparently a natural occurence when the aquifer gets low, and the limestone is not supported, so sinkholes form.

It is very sudden, and it does seem very odd, but apparently it has been happening somewhat cyclically for many centuries. It is a little odd to have 3 drain outs in 10 years though! The entire lake can drain within a few days, it is really awe-inspiring.

Aren't you afraid of accidentally stumbling upon the gator with your foot?

I never knew lakes naturally drained like that. Nice thread

reply to post by getreadyalready


I was talking with a friend the other day and he mentioned something I hadn't thought of. In the past, water was in the ground and we cleaned it, drank it, showered in it, and it went back into the ground. Now there is A LOT of it above ground in bottles. Think of how much is in warehouses sitting above ground waiting to be sold.

Sad to see a recreation place like this just disappear.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Could this activity be related to the expansion and contraction of supervolcanoes ?? The cave system could be massive thermal vents... However limestone was mentioned, and limestone isn't volcanic is it.

Did you see any Nestle trucks about pumping for water to put into some nice plastic bottles for you to drink at the local convenience store??

Originally posted by JimmyJagov

Originally posted by jam321
Time to go treasure hunting.

Indeed. I know if the Rogue River were to go dry, I've got a few pair of shades I'd like to get back.

Darn you, just made me crave my favorite all time beer...

Originally posted by votan
Did you see any Nestle trucks about pumping for water to put into some nice plastic bottles for you to drink at the local convenience store??

There is a big issue with Nestle wanting to start bottling from the Wacissa Spring just about 6 miles from my house! So far residents and county commissioners have kept them at bay. There are a lot of yard signs around this area saying "Say NO to Nestle."

Originally posted by Ilyich
reply to post by getreadyalready

 

Could this activity be related to the expansion and contraction of supervolcanoes ?? The cave system could be massive thermal vents... However limestone was mentioned, and limestone isn't volcanic is it.

I doubt it is connected, but there is a legend of a Wakulla Volcano here. It spewed steam and smoke for decades, but they never definitively found the source. Some people believe it was a volcanic vent, but the so-called "experts" say it was just smoldering peat moss. It is another fascinating thing to research and read about.

Wiki on Wakulla Volcano This would have been 20-30 miles from my house, but it would surely be tied to the Wakulla Springs, Wacissa Springs, and same underground aquifer as Lake Jackson.

Fascinating thread, GRE I think I'd want to be tied off with a safety belt hooked to something solid onshore before I went walking on the lakebed.

If the front over the Cayman Islands is any indicator, looks like help may be on its way; we've had more than 10 inches of rain in the past two days and more coming. Seems to be tracking northeast. Only concerning thing is the low to the NW, which may be conducive toward development once this gets past our wind shear.

Maybe you all need to moor your boats to floating docks?

Originally posted by CB328
There are too many people on this planet so what do we expect?

Not really - there's too many people in the wrong places, and energy is too inefficient and misused to make desalination of seawater palatable. I'm glad I live in a town which gets its water from lake Michigan. Then of course they poison it beforee it gets to my tap, but that's what reverse osmosis is for. Our town patched into to the Chicago water system about 30 years ago. As a result, our local aquifers are filled back up to where they were before we first tapped them many decades ago. If the pipeline ever stops flowing, we've got a nice supply of underground water. Many of the surrounding suburbs, built more recently, expect their aquifers to run dry, at least at current depths, within 10-20 years. Poor planning.

We have ALL your water in England.
we have heavy rain warnings today.

but we still have a hose pipe bann???
that means we can not use a hose to water the garden.
there is not enough water?!?!
All the grass is becoming a swamp.

what an extraordinary phenomenon. amazing.

Is there any fracking going on nearby? The wells here are quietly draining the aquifers.
From what I've found (admittedly limited research) each well uses between 1 and 5 MILLION gallons of water during the fracking process. There are 12,000+ wells in the DFW area. What is most tragic though, is the water used is then contaminated. It is recaptured into injection wells and is now classified as hazardous waste. I believe the process from there is the 'used' water is released into the earth under the groundwater line, where it will percolate back up and hopefully decontaminate. Not in our lifetimes though, probably hundreds (if not thousands) of years.
I wonder if this has anything to do with your lake because of the frequency of the draining now. Very curious indeed.

Originally posted by CB328
There are too many people on this planet so what do we expect?

What are you trying to say.....whats population got to do with it...lol.



my grass dies of last month.....your right too many people in china.

reply to post by Starcrossd


No fracking near here, and the phenomenon was known before the industrial age, although it seems to be happening more and more frequently. I agree with you on the tragedy that fracking has become though!

I'm more concerned that there is a larger cycle at play, and the underground caverns that used to be open for paleo-indians to inhabit, are now filled with water, but what if they become not filled with water anymore? That would be a major ecological change! It would also be an awesome untapped reserve of ancient knowledge and artifacts, but what would it mean in the grand scheme of things? Would it lend any credence to the 2012 paranoia? What if we found that there is a 13,000 or 26,000 year cycle where not only the lake drains, but the entire cavern system drains, and that water ends up somewhere else for a few thousand years?

Personally, I'd love to dive the Wakulla Springs and see the Mastadon bones at the bottom, but the dives are extremely limited and I missed my singular opportunity a few years ago, and I may not get another one.

Originally posted by argentus
Fascinating thread, GRE

I think I'd want to be tied off with a safety belt hooked to something solid onshore before I went walking on the lakebed.

If the front over the Cayman Islands is any indicator, looks like help may be on its way; we've had more than 10 inches of rain in the past two days and more coming. Seems to be tracking northeast. Only concerning thing is the low to the NW, which may be conducive toward development once this gets past our wind shear.

Maybe you all need to moor your boats to floating docks?

It would be pretty amazing if a slow-moving storm system did trek through here and fill the lake back up. I don't think it could happen so easily, but who knows, perhaps it could fill from the bottom up through the aquifers and from the top down due to runoff at the same time?

I hope we do get the rain either way.

Originally posted by kosmicjack

Originally posted by getreadyalready

People might say Global Warming, or Gulf Oil Spill, but I think it is from the Metropolis of Atlanta robbing water that typically flows southward to Florida. There have been lawsuits ongoing for years, because they directly impact the ecological system in our Apalachicola Bay.

Okay - those are fighting words.

I'm pretty sure most of the lakes in the Greater ATL area are below full. The issue though is not just water usage by citizens, it's also watershed management by the power companies and the Army Corps of Engineers, who manage Lake Lanier. Badly, I might add. Of course the Chattahoochee is the main water artery between here and there. The thing is, if you travel 431 and go through Eufaula and all the little lakes around the border from GA to AL to FL - they're typically full or close to it. At least before this past few months of drought. Maybe members can chime in here but they look close to full on the chart..

So, we're not full, they are full and you are low. So something weird is going on.

edit on 6/19/2012 by kosmicjack because: (no reason given)

You are right they are fighting words. The problem is Georgia residents have allowed Nestle to pump their water for decades. You allowed them in your state therefore it is Georgia residents fault. Nestle has several plants in the state which suck the water dry and sell it to other states and countries. These companies bottle the water and sell it to local distributors to avoid FDA regulations. In reality the water from your tap has more restrictions then bottle water. But that in itself is not the problem. The problem is they are stealing your and my water and selling it for a HUGE profit. We in FL are now attempting to kick them out of the very FEW places they bottle water. Georgia was so money hungry that they sold your water supply off to the highest bidder. Only problem is it was not your water to sell. Water is needed for survival and should never be sold as a commidty. Georgia and it's money hungry politicians have sold you and me down the river.

So in short it is the residents of Georgia's fault for the water shortage in FL. Although you are not personally taking my water you allowed the thief in the house so your to blame.

On another note my grandfather has lived on or around that lake for 85 years. I have been familiar with that lake and fishing it for 35 years. It has been going dry for centuries. It is a common cycle for that particular lake and is not out of the normal. However it does take a very long time to drain and fill back up and it has nothing to do with rain fall in FL,. This lake is feed through the Floridan Water Aquifer which starts in central Georgia and flows South. Rainfall in Georgia is what feeds the aquifer and takes many many years to flow down and reach FL.

I have posted several links and videos on what I have mentioned.



LINK

Floridan Water