Alachua County, Areas Of Florida In Severe Drought.
Parts of Alachua County are now classified under severe drought conditions.
With over 90 percent of the state of Florida considered to be in a drought, the National Drought Mitigation Center classified the situation Thursday as “severe” in nine counties, including Alachua.
Currently, Alachua County has no drought restrictions in place.
This isn’t the first time Alachua County has experienced such grave drought conditions.
An extended drought was worse in 2011 and 2012 in severity, extent and how much of the state it covered, according to Zierden.
“We are in a very similar situation to what occurred in Alachua County in 2012,” said Christine Mundy, chief of the Bureau of Water Resource Information at the St. Johns River Water Management District.
The 12-month rainfall deficit for the end of February in 2012 for Alachua County was at 16.3 inches, according to Mundy.
“So it’s very similar to the situation we saw in 2012.” A drought could mean a higher vulnerability for wildfires as well, especially with the peak wildfire season coming up in May.
“Part of this developing drought is the wildfire activity,” Zierden said.