KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. -- Fran Owens says going to grandma's house used to be fun. "My grandchildren used to come and love to swim and fish and what have you. Now I have great-grandchildren. I would love for them to be able to do that, but they can't," she said.
For the past 14 years, she watched Lake Brooklyn dry up into just a few pockets of water. Now her floating dock lays lifeless on the ground, and kayaks around the lake collect dust. "We have been under a severe drought for the past decade. And because of that, Keystone Heights have had severe issues with their lakes," said Teresa Monson.
Teresa works with the St. Johns River Water Management District and has been monitoring the water levels of the lakes for years. She says it's going to take more than a few tropical storms and one rainy summer to fix the problem.
"The rainfall is literally running right into the bottoms of the lakes and into the aquifer system. But when you have a drought the aquifer is also low," said Monson.
In May and June alone Keystone Heights received more than 28 inches of rain thanks to Tropical Storms Beryl and Debby. Now neighbors in Keystone Heights are looking to the skies again for Issac. They hope that one day the rain won't be the only way their docks get wet again.
"It would be wonderful, wonderful," said Owens. Lake Brooklyn hit it's record low in July of 2004.
