TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Letters To The Editor

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 1, 2007

Mandatory Conservation

You are right on target with your Nov. 28 editorial "Saving Water Will Pay Off Later."

Forced conservation through restrictions on watering lawns during this devastating drought is absolutely appropriate.

And, if need be, tougher water restrictions are in order. However, tougher restrictions should come only after county and city governments have mandated a temporary moratorium on new developments, including golf courses, until we have a clearly definable break in the drought.

Polk County continues to approve development after development even with the knowledge that water resources are insufficient to support these projects.

Growth is fine; we've had a heck of a lot of it in Florida since the invention of air conditioning.

But now it's the time for authorities to recognize, perhaps painfully, that it is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to provide the infrastructure, water, roads, public transit and government services to support that growth.

Let's take a break for the future.

C.C. (DOC) DOCKERY

Lakeland

Lawns Will Suffer

While it's impossible to argue that we would consider sacrificing drinking water to maintain our lawns, it is not fair to sacrifice existing landscapes while allowing the installation of new St. Augustine lawns!

We have been told that the current schedule - once weekly - is sufficient to maintain a St. Augustine lawn, but that's not so. In reality, the grass is stressed - resulting in little growth - while opportunistic weeds thrive and eventually crowd out the lawn grasses! This has already resulted in tremendous turf loss for those who adhere.

A further reduction or elimination of all outside watering while allowing new installations of St. Augustine lawns in new developments is hypocrisy at best.

It's great for the developers, sod farmers and installers, but it's a travesty for homeowners trying to maintain lawns that conform to association mandates.

Add destroyed lawns to unaffordable taxes and property insurance and you have a negative hat trick for real estate sales in Central Florida.

THOMAS A. PETERSON

Riverview

Growth Is The Problem

I applaud SWFWMD for extending the once-a-week watering restrictions through June. Will this be enough? If the drought continues, will all outdoor watering be banned?

Even if we have a wet winter, this isn't going to be the last time we face watering restrictions. We obviously cannot change Mother Nature's cycle of droughts and wet years. We need to look beyond temporary Band-Aid solutions to the disease that's killing us - unlimited growth!

If you think we have water problems now, then look at the projections for the future. By 2050, the population of the seven-county region will increase nearly 84 percent to over 7 million people. That's 3.2 million new residents.

It's ridiculous to think that Tampa Bay Water is going to be able to find enough affordable water for all these people. The "Band-Aids" will only get bigger, be in place permanently and cost much more in terms of quality of life.

We obviously can't build a wall at the Georgia border, but we can start basing growth on what our water resources can really support.

BOB MINTHORN

Gibsonton

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT