FOLKSTON — The Okefenokee Swamp is getting swampy again thanks to recent rains.

The Florida Times-Union reports (http://bit.ly/wOOIUz) that heavy weekend rain has pushed the water level in the swamp up a foot during the past week at the Suwannee Canal Recreation Area.

Arthur Webster, supervisory ranger at the national refuge, says the higher water level has flooded dry canals and led to the reopening of the interior of the swamp to boating.

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge had dropped to near record lows because of prolonged drought, but National Weather Service maps showed that five or more inches of rain fell in some areas in and near the Okefenokee.

Because the swamp is so shallow, a foot of water can flood thousands of formerly dry acres.