Used Pontoon Boats Solid rain just what Orlando Lakes Needed

Hi gang, Rick Ostler here from North American Waterway bringing you Used Pontoon Boats along with news and views from the boating industry. With an article out of Orlando, Florida.

TAVARES - The rain from Tropical Storm Fay this week might have been more than many Lake County residents wanted, but it was just what the area's lakes needed.

"We need the water like crazy," said Jack Hoebeke, an Imperial Terrace resident who, like most of his neighbors, enjoys navigating his boat through a narrow canal linking his community to the larger Dora Canal.

The Dora Canal links to Lake Eustis and Lake Dora. But the canal's extremely low water level in recent years has made it impassable for watercraft, including Hoebeke's pontoon boat.

"It's horribly low, and I can barely get out," he said. "So I was praying for rain."

This week, before Fay, Lake County was 3 inches short of normal rainfall for the past 12 months.

But from November 2005 until last month, the county recorded 37.8 inches less rain than average. The area's largest water bodies -- Lake Eustis, Lake Apopka, Lake Harris and Lake Dora -- are below normal.

"That really hits it home as to why our lake levels are still as low as they are," said Lance Lumbard, water-resources project manager with the Lake County Water Authority.
"So this kind of tropical activity is exactly what we're looking for to help bring our lakes back up."

But it's unlikely that one tropical storm such as Fay will make the lake's water levels rise to normal levels and help Hoebeke float his boat more easily.

Lake County will need several months of above-average rainfall distributed evenly across the area to make a significant impact.

"We've had pretty heavy rainfall in the center [of Lake County] in the past two months, but we need it spread out," Lumbard said.

Still, storms with heavy rains that cause no damage are always welcome, county officials said. U"Tropical activity with no wind is really what we need," Lumbard said.

Even though Fay skirted Lake County without inflicting major damage, it gave the area what it needed, said Jerry Smith, Lake's emergency-management director. "It's a blessing from God that we're getting rain," he said. Thanks to Martin E. Comas for this. Martin can be reached at 352-742-5927 or mcomas@orlandosentinel.com. Solid rain just what lakes need -- OrlandoSentinel.com