GROVELAND, Fla. – Florida is facing a historic drought. The lack of rain has caused the worst drought conditions in 25 years, the 21st driest on record since 1895, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).
For farmers like Bruce Waters in Groveland, the consequences are becoming life-or-death for their animals. Waters has lived on his property since 2016. He says his pond, which is normally nine feet deep, has been reduced to a shallow puddle ringed by thick, unstable muck that acts like quicksand. Asked if he’d ever seen the water this low, he didn’t hesitate: “Never, never.”
[WATCH: the latest drought monitor shows things continuing to worsen]
The danger became clear when one of his goats ventured toward the water’s edge for a drink and ended up neck-deep in the mud. Waters’ daughter, who rushed to free it, became stuck herself. Three hours later, a sheep wandered too close and was quickly trapped, requiring Waters’ daughter, Penny, to use a lasso to get it out. As Waters described it, one minute an animal seems fine on the dried crust — the next, it crashes through and can’t turn back toward dry land.
Waters, whose last name carries particular irony given the current crisis, insisted News 6 anchor Matt Austin feel the muck for himself. A few steps in, with the ground giving way underfoot, it was easy to understand the danger. The goat, named Chance, survived the ordeal with a mud-caked beard to show for it.
Waters’ farm got lucky — every animal was rescued. But he worries about livestock and wildlife across Florida facing the same invisible hazard with no one around to help. As ponds and lakes recede to record lows, the drying mud at their edges hardens on top while staying dangerously soft below, a trap that gives no warning.
Asked how many animals across the state he thinks are ending up in situations like his goat’s, Waters shook his head: “Who knows? Too many.”
Florida’s drought shows no immediate signs of easing, according to News 6 Chief Meteorologist Candace Campos. Central Florida needs more than 13 inches of rain within one month to officially end the drought.