18 BULLETIN" 462, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



WATER SUPPLY AVAILABLE FOR IRRIGATION. 



Practically every part of the State is well supplied with water for 

 irrigation purposes, in the form of lakes, streams, or wells. The 

 rivers are little used as an irrigation supply, either by means of 

 diversion ditches or through the use of pumping plants, but the lakes 

 and wells are used extensively both for irrigation purposes and for 

 domestic supply. 



The lakes are a constant surprise and delight to the new arrival, 

 and are scattered from one end of the State to the other, varying 

 from the size of a small pond to the huge Lake Okeechobee. The 

 lands bordering many of the lakes offer promising sites for orange 

 or grapefruit groves, since the lakes not only afford a water supply 

 for irrigation but are a material aid in keeping up the temperature 

 in times of cold waves. It would be difficult to approximate the 

 number of groves that border lakes in the State, but a large per- 

 centage of the groves in Lake, Orange, and Polk Counties are so situ- 

 ated. The elevation of the groves above the surface of the lakes 

 varies considerably in different sections, but there are few irrigation 

 plants which elevate water more than 100 feet, while a fair average 

 of them probably would show less than half this lift. 



Where no lakes are available water usually is obtained from wells 

 without much difficulty. The area in which flowing wells have been 

 sunk is very extensive and includes much of the land lying below the 

 50- foot contour. The State geologist has prepared a map showing 

 the artesian belt, and this map should be consulted if a newcomer 

 is considering irrigation from flowing wells. In general, the area 

 follows the east coast of Florida from Jacksonville to the Everglades, 

 covers all the Everglades, then follows the west coast to a point a 

 few miles above Tampa. This border varies in width, but as a rule 

 does not extend many miles inland. Other areas yielding artesian 

 flow follow in narrow strips along the St. Johns and the Kissimee 

 Rivers, while there is another artesian belt on the mainland, border- 

 ing the Gulf from the Appalachicola River to the extreme western 

 border of the State. 



The depths of the flowing wells vary greatly throughout the State. 

 Many of the wells around Jacksonville are more than 500 feet in 

 depth, while near Hastings the wells are shallow, frequently being 

 only about 125 feet deep. The wells in the Sanford district are shal- 

 low, often being less than 100 feet. The depth of those in the 

 southern part of the State is very great, some wells near Palm Beach 

 having been sunk 1,000 feet before a flow was obtained. The wells on 

 the west coast, which furnish water by natural flow, also are of vary- 

 ing depths. The flowing wells in the Fort Myers district vary in 

 deptljufrom 400 to 800 feet, while a series of flowing wells in the 



