Having researched the Everglades intensively while at the U. S. Army War College in 2008-2009, I read and scoured through dozens of well-known resources and there is none better than Godfrey and Catton's "River of Interests," commissioned by the Corps in 2004. "River of Interests" is the best book I've found to date to provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the Everglades' story and journey in a factual, clear and candid manner.
 

By Dan DeWitt, Times Columnist
 

In Thornton's Cave, in southern Sumter County, you see beams of light
streaming through holes in the ceiling, worn by thousands of years of
steadily flowing water.

You see that the bottom half of the tunnel is almost as white as chalk,
scoured by that same steady flow.

At the end of the one-third-mile-long cave, you see where the spring
run once emerged. And you see that the run's bed is not only dry, but
covered by grass, weeds and opportunistic seedlings.

"I used to be afraid of this cave because you had to worry about
cottonmouths and alligators," Robert Brooks said with a shrug,
meaning, obviously, that's not a problem now.

Brooks, 38, has been wriggling into every crack in the earth he could
find since he was a 10-year-old kid growing up in Brooksville.

We hear from the Southwest Florida Water Management District about
the steadily declining groundwater levels, now nearly 2 feet below the
bottom of the normal range for this time of year.

Brooks, one of the most experienced cavers in the state, recently led
me and Times photographer Will Vragovic to see this decline.

Our view under the ground - at Thornton's and at Crumbling Rock
Cave in southern Citrus County - was as grim as the sight of the
steadily shrinking rivers and lakes on the surface.

Or more so, because groundwater isn't supposed to be as prone to
fluctuation and is, of course, the source of almost all of the state's
drinking water.

One other thing, unsurprisingly, is the same above ground and below:
the cause of the falling water levels, which is pumping and a long-term
slump in rainfall.

Both caves are in Swiftmud's Northern District, which includes
Hernando and five other counties to the north and east. There, the
amount of water pumped increased by 42 percent, to 163 million
gallons a day, between 1990 to 2006, when demand started to decline
slightly because of the flagging economy.

The historical average rainfall, compiled over the past three decades, is
53.5 inches per year. Since 1990, the annual total has been less than
that 14 times, including each of the past six years.

Of course, back in the 1960s, that historical average was at least 2
inches higher, about 55 inches, a mark hit even less frequently in
recent years.

So by visiting the cave in the middle of a severe drought, we weren't
seeing rare conditions, but ones that are recurring again and again.

"It's like we're in a drought, things briefly improve, and then we're
back in it again," said Granville Kinsman, manager of the district's
hydrologic data section.

Kinsman also produced data showing that average rainfall was on an
upward trend before 1960, suggesting the more recent downward one
is part of a natural cycle.

Other theories are that the decreasing rainfall is tied to the loss of
wetlands in Florida - "the rainmaking machine,'' former Swiftmud
executive director Sonny Vergara called it. Or that it's related to global
climate change.

But at this point, nobody really knows. And nobody I talked to at either
Swiftmud or the much better-funded South Florida Water Management
District has made a concerted effort to find out.

Which can't go on.

Because whatever amount of pumping the district is allowing is too
much.

It would probably be too much even if we were receiving steady doses
of normal rain. It's definitely too much if we're dealing with a long-term
decline.

Which is sure what it looks like underground.

The entrance to Crumbling Rock is a little like an old-fashioned well - a
vertical shaft barely big enough to fit a bucket - and it used to lead
directly to water.

Once Brooks had dropped a cable ladder down the shaft, and we had
climbed down, he pointed to a coffee-colored water line that showed
the usual level of the former underground stream.

"You would have been crawling with your chin just above water," said
Brooks, who has been exploring this cave for the past six years.

Every year, the water level has dropped, and on our visit we
encountered only a few puddles and some ankle-deep mud.

"With the rain we're getting, we're ending every year in a deficit, and
yet we're taking the same amount out," Brooks said.

"If you treated your bank account that way, you'd be broke. And our
aquifer is broke."

Maybe not yet. But it's getting there.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/dry-empty-caves-offer-grim-proof-of-tampa-bays-groundwater-decline/1231001

 New National Hurricane Center Director

MIAMI - Richard Knabb, the tropical weather expert at The Weather Channel, will be the next chief of the U.S. government's hurricane forecasting hub in Florida, federal officials said today.

The promotion to director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami fulfills a childhood dream for Knabb, who grew up in Coral Springs and Katy, Texas, and later was a forecaster at the center. 

Knabb remembers watching the hurricane center's director on local television news as Hurricane David aimed at Miami in 1979. The storm eventually swerved and made landfall farther north in Palm Beach County, but Knabb was hooked on the tropical storm forecasts.

"Largely that came out of personal, childhood fear. I wanted to be able to figure out how to forecast those things myself because they posed such a danger to folks in hurricane-prone areas," said Knabb, 43. "From that point forward I think I knew that that was what I was going to end up doing as a career."

Knabb started working at the hurricane center in 2001. He was a senior hurricane specialist at the center from 2005 to 2008, experiencing what other longtime forecasters called "decades of hurricane activity in just a few years," thanks to the overactive and devastating 2004 and 2005 seasons.

"I was living the hurricane problem while I was helping others prepare for the hurricane problem," Knabb said.

Knabb is already cautioning coastal residents to be prepared.

"One of these days another major hurricane is going to come to the U.S., and we need to be prepared. And that starts with me and my family," Knabb said. "We're going to be living in South Florida again, and we have to have a hurricane preparedness plan for our home and our family. And that will be just one of the examples I'll try to set for personal preparedness."

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season was the sixth consecutive year without the U.S. landfall of a major hurricane. Those are storms classified as Category 3 or higher, with top winds of at least 111 mph. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is set to release its hurricane season outlook next week......

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Tropical Storm Alberto emerged off South Carolina's coastline Sunday, the first storm of its kind to form in a hurricane season that doesn't officially begin until June 1.

The storm was not expected to approach landfall on the Carolinas' coast, but it prompted a tropical storm warning and forecasters warned that it could produce high winds, heavy surf, rip currents and scattered rain across the region.
 

Red Tide and Algal Blooms

One of the most-asked questions received of a fishing guide is, "When is the best time to fish Lake Okeechobee?"

The answer most often is that there is never a bad time to fish Lake Okeechobee. Some days are just better than others.

The lake has a tremendous amount of bass and one can always find fish that are willing to bite. Pinpointing a single day is nearly impossible. Fishing is about having fun and Lake Okeechobee has much to offer. The bird life on the lake is incredible, not to mention alligators, manatees and other wildlife. There are so many things to see that sometimes it is hard to concentrate on just fishing.

Panfish anglers that enjoy catching bluegill or shellcracker will find that late spring and summer are the prime times to fish. Panfish can be caught most days, but the full moon periods are when panfish can be found in large schools near their spawning areas. When they gather, it's much easier to catch them.

Panfishing is great for beginning anglers that may want to learn some angling basics and enjoy some fast action. As table fare, bluegill or shellcracker freshly filleted and fried are delicious.

The water temperature in the lake is near 80 degrees, which means that the bass are feeding daily. The North end of the lake has many different areas holding large schools of fish. The outside vegetation lines around Buckhead Ridge and Grassy Island are holding large numbers of small fish.

If one can find a mixture of native vegetation, odds are it will be holding bass. Topwater lures, flukes, lipless crankbaits, swim baits and flipping or pitching type plastics are all drawing strikes. There are a lot of different ways to entice fish to bite, don't get stuck in a rut and use the same thing all of the time. Try to become more adept at using other methods that are not necessarily in your comfort zone. That will make you a better angler.

While many anglers are fishing the outside edges of the lake, others are delving behind the first line of grass and finding openings in the grass where fish are holding, too. Many times we have found a mother lode of panfish while we were bass fishing in these extreme skinny water areas. We simply mark the spot on our GPS and return later to harvest the fish, or share the info with others so that they may go in and catch them.

The average catch rates for shiner fishing trips have been impressive with 40 to 60 fish being caught in a morning, when they are biting. Many anglers have become so spoiled by the incredible numbers of fish they have been catching, that a morning catch of 15 to 30 fish leaves them disappointed. Big bass are still in the mix, normal-size bass may bite where you are fishing every day for a week, and then the next time the spot is visited, big bass seem to have taken over, only to revert to average fish again the next day. Go figure!

Capt. Mike Shellen can be reached at 863-367-0802. His website is www.OkeechobeeBassFishing.com