Mar 25, 2009

Nowhere and everywhere

In the Big Cypress Swamp, water is alternatively "everywhere" ... or "nowhere to be found." 

video

That contrasts to up on the continent (at least in most watersheds), where you have to hunt for water, but when you do find it -- in the form of a stream, or creek, or even a little riffle (as shown in the above video) -- it's there all year round ... even if it dries down to a trickle of it's former self in late summer and fall.

That wasn't the case on this mid winter day, following a frontal shower.


Compare that to south Florida's Big Cypress Nat'l Preserve in its "nowhere to be found" water season: spring. My trusty dowsing rod led me to the correct spot -- a cypress dome, which was perplexingly dry as a bone on the surface.

Did my dowsing rod steer my wrong?

video

I forgot to mention about the ground water.

It's "everywhere" in south Florida, just a few feet below the surface -- and that's all year round. (And that also means I'm "still perfect" with my dowsing rod ... technically speaking.)


See and read more "Friday Sky Watch" information from all layers of the troposphere by clicking here.

18 comments:

Betsy from Tennessee said...

Guess what's RIGHT below the ground here in Tennessee???????? Not WATER.... It's ROCKS... (Not very good for gardening!!!)
Betsy

Rinkly Rimes said...

It seems you've been cheating with the dowsing rod!! But I love the word 'riffle'.

Pam said...

It always amazes me how cypress trees can survive in either, a lot of water or no water at all. I guess that is why they have managed to live for so many years.

Cicero Sings said...

We dowsed our yard when we first moved here ... we both did it independently of each other ... and both got the same results. It indicated underground water that split into two different directions. We had never done something like that before. Now that the water table has dropped so, we should try it again.

Deborah Godin said...

Cool - ya gotta know where to look! Do you really dowse? That's always intrigued me, never saw it done "live".

Louise said...

It wouldn't matter if your rod led you wrong; it was worth the picture!

The Good Life in Virginia said...

fascinating post...always something to learn here.
have a great rest of the day.

Your EG Tour Guide said...

The part of the village I live in has springs under it, so we have an artesian well and a constant stream of water. ;-)

NovaS said...

this pictures says only two things, great sky, and plant needs to have some water...

Check out mine too:

HISTORY of SUPERNOVA and SWEETPAIN
ANGELS IN MY LIFE
SPICES OF LIFE

Carver said...

Beautiful skies and landscapes.

Guy D said...

Wow great posting as always!

Have a great weekend!
Guy
Regina In Pictures

Arija said...

...ans what do you do when there is no rain and only saline ground water?

Janie said...

If you dig deep enough, there's probably water to be found even in the desert. So... your dowsing rod can't be wrong, technically speaking, right?
Interesting videos.

Lew said...

"Dry swamp" sounds like an oxymoron, but we seem to have weather patterns that are constantly in the wrong place. And the water leaving south Florida contradicts the reports that the sea level is rising. From my visits to Jacksonville years ago, it seemed like every afternoon thunderstorm caused flooding. The southern drought seems to be creeping north. We are now about 5 inches below normal for this time of year, though we are getting a predeicted half inch now. I hope your winds shift soon and the rains return to south Florida.

Robert V. Sobczak said...

Thanks for your comments.

I wasn't really dowsing, I was speaking more metaphorically. But the trade intrigues me. In the "art vs science" spectrum, doodle bugging (aka water divining) is a skill that leans heavily towards the former, with no technical training to go along with it. But I don't doubt the trade at all. I have a friend who didn't find water on their property until they hired a water witch.

And you're right Janie: I could have used the same trick out in the desert, as there is usually ground water of some type down there. In the desert its often deeper (much deeper) than Florida.

And Arija makes a great point. The farther you go down the more likely it's going to be saline (or higher salinity) than the fresh stuff at the surface. Case in point is our lower Floridan Aquifer south of Lake Okeechobee.

The Write Girl said...

What a unique post for swf. I like the shot of the sky in the second video but it's bad that the ground is so dry. Thanks for sharing.

ChrisC and JonJ said...

We don't have a lot of water here in our part of Florida.Used to be you could dig down about 6-12" and hit water.Not any more.Dug down over 2' the other day,and the ground was dry as a bone.And we have cypress trees in our yard,too.What's going to happen to them?Can they survive this drought?

Babooshka said...

I have always wanders about dowsers. Reading the comments in conjuntion with your post actually made interesting eductaional reading