LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Lee County farmers are worried about their well water because one of the worst droughts the area has ever seen has dried up their pond.
“We worry about the well drying up,” said Jake Pruitt, who has run Whispering Oaks Farm with his wife Ashley since 2020. “We know that a lot of people have already had that happen.”
Watch what local farm owners told Fox 4 Community Corespondent Stephen Pimpo they are doing to conserve water:
The Pruitts operate and live on a six-acre farm where they raise more than 100 animals, including pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys and turtles.
The animals, along with the Pruitts’ four children, all need clean drinking water.
So when the ongoing drought caused their roughly 12-foot pond to dry up for the first time ever, it had them worried.
“Where we’re standing, our feet would be wet,” Jake told Fox 4 during the interview.
It is already affecting their animals.
“For the fish, you can see, there’s not enough oxygen, they’re dying, they’re just floating to the top, there’s just not enough oxygen in the water, there’s not enough water,” Jake said. “And then the ducks, there’s just no place for them to be.”
The Pruitts say a lot of other people with livestock in the Buckingham Preserve in Lee County are in the same situation. The family has already started rationing well water.
“As little waste as possible,” Ashley said. “Yeah, for sure. We’re doing bottled water inside. Instead of, generally we drink from the well.”
Lee County is currently in the worst drought since 2001. And while rain is expected Monday, the drought will likely continue through the rest of May.
Fox 4 asked the Pruitts if they are confident their well water can last until then.
“I hope so,” Jake said.
