Santa Fe River, Florida
Drought 1999 -2002

The drought is over for North Florida until the next one. I'll keep adding photos of the river at this reference point, see photos at the bottom of this page.

The drought years from 1999 to 2001 were some of the worst on record for Florida. With many area lakes seeing record lows and water restrictions across much of the State, I was looking for a visual to show how the drought was impacting North Florida. During a February paddle going up the river from US 27 just north of High Springs, I came across the first of many portages on a river that usually could be paddle between US 441 and US 27. Sure there were the low spots that sometimes required a bit of effort, but not completely dry as was the case on that day. Since then I have been going back to update the river's condition. This is my photo journal of the drought from Nov 2000 to April 2002. The location is about 1 mile north of US 27 near High Springs, Florida. All of the photos are of the same location, note the log, visible in most of the photos, as a point of reference.

(Note: the dates of the drought are in some debate, the summer of 1998 saw some of the worse wildfires in Florida's history due to a summer drought. That year also had seen one of the wettest springs with the Santa Fe River coming out of its banks for much of the late winter- early spring. 1999 though early summer 2001 saw a marked decrease in average rainfall. Eventually the Santa Fe River dropped to such lows that parts became a series of small lakes rather than a river.)

Satellite View Here is the view between US 27 and US 441 just Northwest of the Town of High Springs, Fl.	November 2000 After two years of drought, the Santa Fe is barely flowing between US 27 and US 441
February 2001 The Santa Fe River has stopped flowing. Note the log in the background.	Early March 2001
Late March 2001 Some flow after a heavy rain in March	April 2001 Back to dry again.
May 2001 Still dry.	July 2001 Its been raining, but the river is still in dry.
August 2001 After above average rainfall in July , the Santa Fe is once more flowing between US 27 and US 441	August 2001 Notice the water flowing over the log, this is the same log in the above pictures.
August 2001 Heading back down the river.	April 2002 Here I am back on the river and levels are still down.
April 2002 Well, looks like the Santa Fe still has a ways to go. Dry conditons continue in North Florida, but an El Nino event may be forming for late 2002 -03. One hopes that it brings much needed rain to this area.

The Santa Fe River is Back Dec 26, 2002, after above average rainfall this falland early winter, I was able to paddle from US 441 to US 27 without having to portage.	Reference Picture 12/26/2002 If you look to the right of my kayak, you can see the log that has been my reference point for the drought pictures. Hopefully, the river has recovered from the drought.
April 24, 2003 Recent flooding has the river to some of the highest levels in years

 

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