Cape Coral water crisis: Council considers restrictions as wells run dry in the northeast
Cape Coral officials are taking steps to conserve water in northeast Cape Coral as wells start to run dry.
"When you drop below that minimum developable limit, that's when the water management district can actually start implementing harsher restrictions," Cape Coral Utilities Director Jeff Pearson said.
During a Committee of the Whole meeting on Wednesday, city officials were informed of the dire situation facing much of the northeast part of the city.
Private wells are running dry, aquifer could be damaged
On November 28, 2023, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) declared a water shortage and issued a 1-day mandatory irrigation restriction for northeast Cape Coral and unincorporated Lee County.
The area experiencing the water shortage is between Nelson Road on the west, NE 24th Avenue on the east, Gator Slough on the north, and Pine Island Road on the south.
The Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer, located approximately 125 feet underground, provides water to many private wells in this area. The Mid-Hathorn Aquifer is not where the city gets its drinking water.
The city is monitoring the aquifer levels weekly, said Pearson.
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Building permits and new wells could be stopped
The issue is that the aquifer is under its minimal developable limit, which means it could be damaged if withdrawal limits aren't put in place.
Pearson said SFWMD can put restrictions on the city at any time that can affect future development in that area.
"They could even go to the furthest extreme and say we are not going to let any more wells go in," Pearson said.
Cape Coral City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said the district could limit water usage to only inside the home with no irrigation use allowed.
Another such restriction is new building permits being curtailed in the area.
Both the city and the district are trying to prevent the aquifer from going below the minimum level, which could cause irreparable harm to it.
"If water levels fall below -101.83 ft, permanent harm to the aquifer could occur via aquifer compaction, so the water restrictions are in place to try and prevent that from happening," according to a spokesperson with SFWMD.
Pearson said recent rainfall did, however, slow down the shortage, stopping the aquifer from reaching the minimum flows and level.
Additionally, the North 1 West Area Utilities Extension Project and North 2 Utilities Extension Project comprise two-thirds of the area, with the latter already completed, and are poised to help resolve parts of the issue.
They will provide water, sewer, and irrigation services in phases to replace septic and shallow groundwater wells and connect households to the city's potable water treatment and distribution facilities.
"We anticipate once those homes come online, we'll start to see the aquifers starting to recover a bit because people will be using less water from those private wells," Pearson said.
Council takes actions on water shortage
Cape Coral City Council discussed measures they could undertake to combat the water shortage. However, they stopped short of implementing extreme measures like restricting vehicle and boat washing, capping the size of pools, and only allowing drip irrigation systems for new homes.
The city chose to do the following:
Accelerate the 2023 Conservation Ordinance enactment to April.
Increase fines for water violations, which has yet to be determined.
The 2023 Conservation Ordinance was supposed to be implemented in December this year.
According to the ordinance, "as much as 50 percent of water used outdoors is lost due to wind evaporation and runoff caused by inefficient irrigation methods and systems."
The ordinance is meant to increase irrigation efficiency and limit harmful nutrient run-off by established irrigation design standards and a landscape irrigation permit fee.
A permit will be required for the new installation of landscape irrigation systems and modifications to an existing irrigation system that cost $2,500 or more.
This does not require existing systems to be altered or modified to meet new irrigation design standards.
Council discussion
Mayor John Gunter was reticent to undertake extreme measures to conserve water due to the recent rain increase during the initial discussion.
"I would like to see a wait-and-see approach and maybe revisit this in a couple of months to see where we are at," Gunter said.
He said he would be open to putting restrictions on pool water and car and boat washing.
"For me now, looking at the data that we only had for the last couple of months, I would like to see that for another six-month period to see how we are doing," Gunter said. "I don't want to put a restriction on any homeowner unless I'm 100% (sure) there's a need there."
He also wanted a recommendation from the SFWMD.
Councilmember Dan Sheppard agreed with Gunter's assessment and said he wanted to make sure homeowners and potential buyers were informed of the water issue.
"In no way we are not telling people not to build, but at least being transparent that they know that this location may have an issue," Sheppard said.
Matt Grambow, interim development services director, said the city has been working with stakeholder groups, Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association, Lee Building Industry Association, and Cape Coral Construction Industry Association, to make sure they are aware of this water shortage issue.
Council members Robert Welsh, Bill Steinke, Jessica Cosden, Tom Hayden, and Keith Long said they could support both implementing the ordinance and more fines.
Long supported implementing these less restrictive changes because he worried about just relying on rain to replenish the wells.
"I think we'd be dancing dangerously close to that if we decided to just let it ride out and count on those rains to continue, or otherwise if they don't then rely on reducing watering," Long said.
Though, he was against some of the more extreme measures.
New Councilmember Richard Carr said the city needs to move quickly as SFWMD can put restrictions on them at any time.
"Once they do that, we are stuck," Carr said.
Councilmember Tom Hayden also wanted immediate action as he worried about a summer drought.
"We don't know where conditions will be in the next couple of months," Hayden said.
Gunter also wants to see weekly updates on the northeast.
Cosden floated the idea of incentives and more enforcement to make sure people are not acting out of line with the restrictions.
New fines would be city-wide.
Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral City council discuss water shortage in the northeast
