has been issued by South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for Miami-Dade and Monroe. SFWMD says there may not be enough water through the remainder of the dry season (which typically lasts until May) to meet demand and protect the aquifer from serious harm. Remember, the water source for Monroe County is the same aquifer that provides water to Miami-Dade.

From Last Stand’s recent newsletter:

The Keys have real, physical limits. Endless growth is not compatible with a fragile island chain that depends on a stressed regional water supply. 

Even though official population estimates look stable, water, sewer, and solid waste data indicate there are more people in the Keys than ever before. A likely driver is the explosion of short-term rentals, which often house far more people than the outdated infrastructure planning assumptions of roughly two people per household.

Overdevelopment, land use planning, and ROGO isn’t just a hurricane evacuation issue, or an environmental issue. It’s a question of whether we push the Keys so far past its breaking point that the taps run dry.