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Saving Money A Drop At A Time

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2009

Water management district officials might sound like a broken record, but their mantra is true. Florida is in the middle of a serious drought. This precious resource is in short supply at the moment and it may only get worse. While it can seem unfathomable that a peninsula would face a drought, it's the reality of living in this state.

As water resources dry up like grapes left out in the sun, our country also is in the midst of an economic downturn of epic proportions. Yet, drive through almost any subdivision in Pasco County on any given afternoon and you're likely to see at least one homeowner watering the lawn ... the sidewalk and the street.

I'm not a rabid environmentalist by any means, but I do like to think of myself as a realist. The fact of the matter is watering lawns in the middle of the day is not only foolish and terribly wasteful, it's also illegal and a ridiculous waste of money.

Pasco County has set watering restrictions in place for a reason. It is, along with a host of other local governments, trying to make sure we have enough of this resource to go around if the skies don't open in the rainy season. We've dodged bullets before on this score, but we are not always going to be so lucky.

Right now, our chances of coming out of the drought any time soon are not looking good. As of Jan. 14, aquifer levels in the central part of Florida were at -1.38 feet. The normal range is 0 to 6 feet. Rainfall as of Jan. 14 was 0.29 inches. The historic amount is 2.47 inches. While the rainy season later this year could change the picture, our present situation is not encouraging.

Those who violate the restrictions do so at the expense of others. They also are wasting their money in several ways. First and foremost, lawns should not be watered during the day because of evaporation. This means applications that take place during the day are wasteful and simply not all that effective. Secondly, lawns only need to be watered about once every 10 to 14 days during the winter. Watering anymore than that can actually harm a lawn and make it less hardy. Thirdly, it could end up costing the resident in fines. It just doesn't make sense to risk so much just to keep up with the Joneses.

If you want to save some money in this economy, turn off those sprinklers when they shouldn't be in use. Every drop counts and right now so does every penny.

For more information on watering restrictions in Pasco County, visit pascocountyfl.net. To learn more about saving water, visit watermatters.org.

Sherri Lonon is the editor of In The Loop.

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