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District Board Votes To Extend Once-Weekly Watering Rule

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 24, 2008

TAMPA - The once-weekly watering rules people have lived with for 18 months will go on until September.

The Southwest Water Management District today approved a three-month extension of rules designed to help the water system recover from two years of drought.

The vote was unanimous, and several board members said that with the summer rains well established, there's no need for homeowners to turn on their sprinklers.

The district's governing board cut watering from twice a week to once a week in January 2007. Today's extension is the fourth time since then that the board has considered lifting the rule but sided with its staff to keep it in place.

Rainfall the past 24 months is 17 inches below normal, and lack of rain in April and May erased any gain from a wetter than normal winter and early spring.

The 16 counties the water district covers need the summer's rain to help lakes, rivers and the aquifer recover.

Though everyone is limited to watering one day a week, specific days of the week vary according to jurisdictions.

Check the Southwest Florida Water Management District site for information on watering days and hours: www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/restrictions/l....

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