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Highlands Today

Sebring Will Fine Watering Scofflaws

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: November 23, 2007

SEBRING — The 2007 rainy season, which ends in November, didn't alleviate the ongoing water shortage, so South Florida Water Management District's staff recommended last week that its governing board increase watering restrictions at the Dec. 13 monthly meeting.

Southwest Florida Water Management District will also discuss watering rules at its 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26 meeting at Quorum Hotel Westshore, 700 N. Westshore Blvd., Tampa.

Locally

In the meantime, one government is preparing to fine watering wrongdoers.

"We're just getting new ticket books," said Comm. Steve Carr of the Sebring Police Department. "We're going to get past the warning stage and start issuing citations."

Sebring violators will get a knock on the door the first time they're found to be watering the lawn at the wrong hour, or on the wrong day.

After one free pass, first offenders will get a $25 fine, second offenders get a $50 fine, and the third time they'll go before county court and face Judge Anthony Ritenour.

In Lake Placid, Utilities Manager Gary Freeman said door citations are issued, quoting Southwest Florida Water Management District's restrictions.

"If we find someone violates the law, we tell them, 'You gotta turn the water off,'" Freeman said.

The city has issued 20 warnings this summer.

"Basically, everybody has done a good job, and I know that because the revenue was down," Freeman said.

April Hartseil, Highlands County code enforcement officer, will issue fines. "But only if you catch them," she said.

"It's complaint driven," she said. "We don't drive around looking."

SWFMD

Since March, more than 11,000 warning notices and 12,000 citations were issued by city and county governments in SWFMD's district. District officials also issued more than 700 violations and collected $400,000 in civil penalties.

The restrictions are scheduled to expire on Nov. 30. Staff recommendations for continued restrictions limit lawn irrigation to one day a week and set lower water use goals for agriculture, golf courses and nurseries.

Successful application of the restrictions is estimated to have saved 11.7 billion gallons of potable water from March 22, when restrictions first went into effect, through June 30. Savings were most pronounced on non-watering days. For example, in the four weeks before restrictions went into effect, Broward and Palm Beach counties typically used 490 million gallons of potable water on Mondays. During Phase III restrictions in May, which cut watering back to one day per week, potable water use dropped to 360 million gallons on Mondays.

"Caution, preparedness and conservation must be our watchwords as we enter the seven-month dry season," said SWFMD Board Member Eric Buermann. "These measures are needed to ensure that our shared resources remain available despite this unprecedented and severe water shortage."

SWFMD is readjusting water restrictions to reflect ongoing conditions that are expected to persist until the rainy season returns in May 2008. In terms of rainfall, the two-year period from November 2005 to October 2007 ranks as the driest on record at the district dating back to 1932.

The district received an average of 85.34 inches of rain during this period, or 82 percent of the historical average.

Recent rains have fallen primarily on the East Coast, leaving Lake Okeechobee without a primary source of water recharge. The vast lake is the region's backup water supply, but remains critically low and could reach levels between 7 feet and 8 feet this dry season. As of Nov. 14, the lake level was at 10.34 feet, or more than one foot below its previous historic low.

Current water shortage response plans include maximizing the water storage capacity in coastal canals to encourage aquifer recharge, and retrofitting temporary forward pumps installed in Lake Okeechobee to ensure water availability for lakeside communities and agriculture.

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