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Highlands Today

SWFWMD Extends Water Restrictions To June

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: November 26, 2007

Southwest Florida Water Management District's watering restrictions
Water restrictions are in effect for all of SWFWMD, and by county law, the entire county as well.
If Your Address ends with the number: You can only water on:
0 or 1 Monday
2 or 3 Tuesday
4 or 5 Wednesday
6 or 7 Thursday
8 or 9 Friday

· If your city or county has a different once-per-week schedule in effect, your watering day will remain the same.
· Properties under two acres in size may only water before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
· These measures apply to commercial establishments as well as residential properties.
· Variances are available if a property proposes an alternative irrigation plan (such as splitting a large property into two pieces and assigning a different day to each piece).
· Hand-watering or micro-irrigation of non-lawn landscape is allowed.
· Certain exemptions are available, such as allowances for new plant material.

SWFWMD Extends Water Restrictions To June

The Southwest Florida Water Management District voted Monday to extend its water restrictions to June 30, 2008.

Property owners will still have to limit watering their lawns to once per week, facing the same restrictions they have faced since January, according to a press release from SWFWMD.

SWFWMD had considered tighter restrictions before Monday's meeting in Tampa. In September, spokeswoman Robyn Hanke mentioned one proposal that would have extended the once-a-week watering limit to newly planted trees, shrubs and other vegetation.

No new restrictions were approved, but SWFWMD warned that more drastic measures, including a total outdoor watering ban, might be in store if the current drought continues into next year.

"We're in a serious situation right now," said water district spokesman Michael Molligan. "We're very concerned about it, and we expect it to get worse in the spring. We're asking people to conserve and be as water efficient as possible."

Mike Waldron, a State Representative for the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association, was relieved that no new restrictions took place. He added that the nearly yearlong restrictions and the droughts causing them hurt his nursery as well as a lot of growers through the state.

"Yeah, we're impacted by it. (It) caused us to have to tighten our belt, make some cuts here and there... let a few people go," Waldron said. "Hopefully, it will turn around."

Tampa Tribune reporter Mike Salinero contributed to this article.

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