If ou want to see how dry it is in Loxahatchee Groves, look no further than the vegetation in Gisela Pferdekamper’s front yard on Collecting Canal Road.
That’s not snow covering her trees.
“That's the dust on the road. It makes it gray,” she says, pointing at the tree.
Gisela, who owns an art studio in Loxahatchee, says the drought and increased dust is creating a tough situation for her clients.
“We've considered giving them $6 so they can go to a car wash every time they come out, but they don't want to do that either,” she says.
It's also causing a strain on her family's well being, as she says her husband is now dealing with issues.
“I walk the dog with a [mask] so it's covered,” Gisela says.
Neighbors say they are fed up with the situation and want the road paved - especially as the drought worsens.
It’s not just the dust causing concern.
Marge Herzog has lived here since the towns incorporation, and is also president of the town's landowner's association.
She's seen the recent drought reduce canals and lakes to puddles.
“We have seen it linger quite a while,” Marge says.
It's a concern - especially in a town where so many people use well water.
“When the water table goes down, some of the wells could go dry if they aren't deep enough,” she says.
That may force residents to haul water across town, or even use their swimming pools water to flush their toilets.
Herzog says a possible solution would be to pump more water from the C-51 canal - but it's a slow moving process between the state's water management district and the town's water management district.
NewsChannel 5 attempted to contact the town and the water control district about the drought issues, but we never heard back from the council, and the district declined to comment.
