‘The cheap water is gone’
Few things cause more stress on the homefront than having a necessity we take for granted become unavailable.
Turn on a switch, we have light.
Turn on the tap, we have water.
We count on this.
We tend to forget, though, that Southwest Florida’s very environment can impact either or both, as so many of us learned in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
Hurricanes are a way of life and many of us have learned to deal, purchasing generators and whatnot to get us through what Mother Nature might throw our way.
Finding that your well has run dry is likely a more unexpected surprise, not one many of us worry about although there have been scattered occurrences in the Cape for years.
Cape Coral now has reached a crisis point, at least for homes built when and where shallow wells were allowed.
The South Florida Water Management District issued a Modified Phase IV Water Shortage Order last Friday, immediately banning lawn irrigation for homes and businesses using private wells in the northeast Cape.
The restrictions the agency called “stringent” are due to critically low water levels in the aquifer from which residents in the affected area draw their drinking water.
Residents and businesses affected are no longer allowed to use their lawn irrigation systems if they pull water from the Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer, though they can hand water on a limited schedule.
In addition, the construction of new wells tapping into the Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer is now limited to just potable use. New users will be required to seek a different water source other than the Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer for irrigation.
Cape Coral City Manager Mike Ilczyszyn put it succinctly: “The cheap water is gone,” he told Cape Coral City Council Wednesday night.
“There is water down there. What we are out of is the cheap water, the shallow well — the smallest amount of pipe, the smallest conductor,” he said. “Those days in the north are no longer available. It requires a deeper well — more pipe, larger pump. We are not out of water; we are out of cheap water.”
This means if you have a home and your well has gone dry, you are going to have to pay more — a lot more- to get back up and running.
It means if you are planning to build a home in the northeast Cape, it’s going to cost more as your well will need to be deeper, especially if you plan to install an irrigation system.
It means all this expense will be for naught when the real solution rolls into your neighborhood: Homes and businesses on city water are not affected by the water levels within the Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer and, when the city brings the Utility Expansion Project it expedited to your way, the potential for your well going dry won’t be a problem because you won’t be on that well, or a septic tank for that matter.
Mr. Ilczyszyn had some practical advice for residents — and potential residents: Be informed.
While this year’s crisis will likely — hopefully — resolve itself once the rainy season begins and the aquifer replenishes, be aware of the issue and do some due diligence.
Check to see if your present well is “deep” or “shallow” and, if shallow, check its depth in relation to current water levels in the aquifer.
If you’re looking to buy, same thing.
And if you’re looking to build?
Check with the city to see when your specific area can expect city utilities. The UEP coming with North 1 is expected to be completed by 2027, North 6 by 2030.
Note that utility assessments and connection costs won’t be cheap. Timing may not be everything but in this case, it may well be in play depending on how much you want to pay to build or buy.
The “cheap water” is gone and less-costly shallow wells may be a thing of the past.
Chalk at least some of it up to the price of progress.
As officials have explained, you can only put so many “straws in a cup” before you hit bottom and start sucking air.
-Breeze editorial