SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - If you bought a home with a peaceful water view behind your lanai, you’re probably not thrilled to wake up to a shoreline that suddenly looks more like a construction site.

Across the Suncoast, neighborhood lakes and ponds are quietly shrinking. Shorelines have pulled back, birds are walking where they used to swim, and many residents have the same question:

What happened to the water?

So I dug into the mystery, and the answer comes down to weather, heat, and the way Florida’s water system works beneath our feet.

A dry streak that set the stage

The first clue is sitting right in the rainfall records.

September was the third driest on record in Sarasota.

October ended as the eighth driest ever recorded.

November has been running at only about five to fift

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