Ch. 13 The Empty Interior

The Empty interiors dry region is dependent on projects that will divert water from different rivers in order to get proper irrigation for it's crops. Without these projects it would not be possible to grow crops in the region and the agriculture that dominates the interior would not exist. Florida shares some of the Empty Interior water problems. Although Florida receives abundant rainfall they depend on drawing water from wells faster than they can recharge it naturally. One of the main problems is caused by Florida's flat topography and being unable to construct large reservoirs hence the need to drill and create wells. The inability of the rainfall to recharge the water table due to development in Florida results in the land loosing support from the water table which then causes large sinkholes. The Farmers in Florida consume about half of the water supply for agriculture of sugar cane (can require lots of water) and citrus.

Damage to a house in Florida that was cause by sinkhole

 To prevent the abundant waste of water Florida's water management has enacted year round water conservation and limitations to use. There's also major campaigning to try to reduce the over use of water in an effort to try and restore some of the water table.

The Organization has also implemented new incentives and has offered a award for water conservation implementation. Projects that use technology to implement water conservation are under consideration for funding through this program. Award recipients are reimbursed for up to 50 percent or up to $50,000, whichever is less, of the actual total project. Types of projects that have received funding in previous years include automatic line flushing devices for hydrants, indoor plumbing retrofits, large area irrigation controls, and soil moisture and rain sensor technology for irrigation systems [1].


Source 1