The aquifer beneath northeast Cape Coral has been running so low, for so long, the number of days a week residents can water their lawns may soon go from one to none.
The Mid-Hawthorn aquifer, which is the primary water source for many residents in Cape Coral and Lee County, is all but tapped due to rampant development, especially in the northern part of the city.
Cape Coral officials have previously said that if the aquifer gets much lower, residents will no longer be able to water their lawns, shrubs, and trees.
“Growth over the past two and a half decades, that’s the primary driver for the declines in the aquifer," said Mark Elsner, a South Florida Water Management District bureau chief. "Just by increasing the number of straws."
Straws being a metaphor for all the residential wells in the region.
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U.S. Census Bureau data shows that, from 2010 to 2020, Cape Coral's population increased from 154,000 to 194,000, an increase of 25%. The cape is expected to keep growing.
Nearly 14,000 residences in northeast Cape Coral rely on the aquifer for all of their water needs. Since an average of 2.3 people live in a home, that translates to about 34,000 people who rely on an aquifer that doesn't have enough water to handle the demand.
"This region has become dependent on that Mid-Hawthorn aquifer,” Elsner said. “There’s very little alternative for the residents in that area for potable water."
Water managers have known about the strain on the aquifer for years, and do not yet have a way to refill the Mid-Hawthorne any faster. Its recharge area is about 50 miles to the northeast in De Soto County, and the water must also percolate down 150 feet during the journey. It can take many decades for water to move that far through the ground.
Along the way, other users in newer homes and businesses in northern Lee and southern Charlotte counties have wells pumping out the water they need. Couple that with factors associated with climate change, such as drought, and only about four feet of water makes it into the Mid-Hawthorn aquifer below Cape Coral annually today, far less than the 13-15 foot historical average refill rate.
Regional water managers believed Cape Coral would connect homes in the northeastern part of the city to municipal water service before well-water levels fell to the unusable range. The city claims scheduling problems delayed construction of water lines in the northeast area.
In February, the Cape Coral City Council approved a resolution that fast-tracked a new effort to run utility lines in.
Elsner said, with the new timeline, about 2,000 residents in the area will have access to municipal water services by the end of this year. The ultimate goal, and the only permanent solution, is to connect the entire area to city water and sewer.
But that comes with other issues, the main one being the $30,000 it will cost each homeowner to connect to municipal water sources.
Gary Byers, a painter who lives in northeast Cape Coral, said he is thinking about the cost.
“If you can’t pay, I think they put liens on your property," Byers said. "It gets scary to the people who can’t afford it.”
He said that he’s hopeful for some sort of grant or relief from the city, but as it stands now, the cost makes him nervous.
Other residents are adapting to their new normal.
Dave Cannestra, who installs private wells, said his business gets regulars calls about low water levels in the area.
Fixing the issue is not simple, he said, and it almost always means more expenses for the homeowner to pay.
“Typically, if the well gets too dry, I mean the only option at that point is to drill a brand new well," Cannestra said. "To go down deeper, and hit into the aquifer, and get them their water back, which is not a cheap thing to do."
Cannestra said he thinks less about the drinking water and more about day-to-day water usage.
“I mean, you could always go to Walmart, Publix, you can buy drinking water," he said. "But having water at your house and not being able to take showers, or take care of your family, that’s the biggest concern for me.”
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