Don’t call it a drought yet!
Swamp stage is dropping yes, but still relatively high.
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| The hydrograph above plots daily water levels in Big Cypress National Preserve from 2008 to present. The blue line shows the water stage for those years. The background gray band shows the 22-year historic range and the dotted gray line shows the 22-year median. Currently, we can classify water levels as dropping but still relatively high. |
Cypress domes are our drought buffer and barometer.
Not only does having them full protect against drought (i.e. they form natural fire breaks), they also provide an convenient place to measure swamp stage.
Currently, water levels in cypress domes across Big Cypress National Preserve are (1) flooded to their edge and marl prairies are hydric (i.e. a combination of moist soils and pooled water) and (2) about 1-2 inches above the 25-year long-term average for mid December.
