CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Canals seem to be drying up once again in Cape Coral at the time when they are usually filling up before the winter dry season.

Residents said they are starting to get nervous as they don’t see much wildlife anymore.

“There’s definitely a difference in the appearance of the water this year,” Steven Cox said.

He said you can see the water lines from where the water used to be, compared to now. There are barnacles exposed to the sun and you can see right to the bottom of the water, which Steven said looks murkier than last year.

“It’s probably at least about a foot down,” Cox said.

Serge Thomas, FGCU associate professor for ecology, confirmed this is the case.

“All of the canals, all of the ditches the water is relatively low,” he said.

There’s more water evaporating due to extreme heat, and not enough falling from the sky.

“In an El Niño where it is super hot outside, we have more evaporation and less rain to replace that evaporation,” Thomas said.

This leads to an imbalance in water quality.

“A good benchmark is if you look over there or you can see the bottom of that ladder. Previously last year we never saw the bottom of that ladder because it was always in the water,” Cox said.

Evidence the current canal environment is not ideal for marine life. Steven Cox said he misses seeing them.

“From a wildlife perspective, I mean last year this time of the year we saw a lot more activity in the canal but this year it’s been relatively quiet,” Cox said.

But what does thrive in these now hotter, shallow waterways is algae.

“Nutrients are concentrated and the algae are growing and it will make the water turbulent and the water can turn green,” Thomas said. “It can turn brown, depending on the type of algae.”

That’s why your canal water is not as clear.

“The water was a lot clearer and it seemed a lot cleaner, but this year it seems definitely a lot more marquis than it was last year,” he said.

The main solution, Dr. Thomas said — we need rain.