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A Condition Of Drought

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: March 20, 2009

TAMPA - Property owners in Tampa no longer will be able to water their lawns with sprinkler systems under a ban adopted Thursday by the city council.

The new watering restrictions, the toughest in the state, go into effect April 3 and will allow only hand-watering of lawns one day a week - and that means standing there with hose in hand. Watering of plants and other types of landscaping also will be restricted to hand-watering or so-called micro-irrigation.

The changes will affect an estimated 140,000 residential and commercial customers in the city and unincorporated areas of Hillsborough County, but the watering rules only affect the city. The restrictions will last indefinitely, until enough rain falls to ease the drought.

City officials expect the move to save upward of 30 million gallons a week. During a typical week, the city consumes 532 million gallons.

Mayor Pam Iorio had proposed phasing in the stricter rules, but several council members said Thursday that they did not want to wait and approved the changes by a 5-1 vote. Because it was passed as an emergency ordinance, the council did not need to hold public hearings and a second reading of the proposed changes, as usually is required.

"Our community needs to understand that we are in the middle of a crisis," said the council's chairman, Tom Scott, at Thursday's meeting. "And it's going to get worse before it gets better."

The rush to pass the restrictions didn't sit well with Councilman John Dingfelder, who represents South Tampa and voted against the measure. He raised concerns that the public had not been properly notified.

"We didn't see the ordinance until 9 this morning, and now we're voting to say no more irrigation until it rains again," he said. "It's way too fast and way too drastic."

No Relief In Sight

The Draconian measures come as the Hillsborough River, Tampa's primary source of drinking water, has reached historically low levels amid a three-year regional drought.

The river can provide about half the water Tampa needs each day, meaning the city must lean on its reservoir on the Hillsborough River, which already is diminished to a level usually seen in May.

"This drought may become the worst on record," said Brad Baird, director of Tampa's water department. "We need to conserve enough to make it through the dry season."

Since 2006, the average rainfall in Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties has been more than two feet below normal. The 15-billion-gallon reservoir in eastern Hillsborough County managed by the region's water provider, Tampa Bay Water, will be empty by April.

Forecasters expect drought conditions in West Central Florida to persist through May. The Climate Prediction Center forecast also is calling for below-average rain statewide for the next three months.

The National Climate Data Center says the past six months, from October through March, have been Florida's third-driest for that period in 114 years of keeping records.

Without substantial rain, Tampa Bay Water, which provides drinking water to most local governments in the region, will have to rely on wellfields, and that can damage wetlands and lakes and create sinkholes.

Violations Costly

On average, Floridians use more water on their lawns than they consume.

Most local governments limit irrigation to one day a week, but hundreds of millions of gallons of drinking water are drawn from wells across the state every day - not just to quench the thirst of a growing population but also to nourish lawns and irrigate crops.

The city has a reclaimed water system, but it serves only a few thousand customers in South Tampa.

In 2007, the drought forced the city to spend more than $10 million to buy bulk water from the regional utility Tampa Bay Water to supplement its supply.

Despite shortages, city residents continue to violate watering restrictions.

Water enforcement officers have written an average of six water-use violation citations a day since the beginning of January. Through random patrols and responding to reports of violations, officers are out there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, officials say.

Violating Tampa's water-use restrictions can result in fines ranging from $100 to $450 and can result in a mandatory court appearance.

On Thursday, Councilman Charlie Miranda heaped criticism on violators.

"The public has to have a crisis come up before they understand the need for something to happen, and the crisis arrived," he said. "We have a water shortage on our hands."

HOAs Take A Hit

Regional water managers applauded Tampa's move to tighten its water restrictions.

"We would encourage more local governments to look at these restrictive actions," said Robyn Felix, a spokeswoman for the Southwest Florida Water Management District, also known as Swiftmud.

The district restricts the 16 counties in its region to once-a-week lawn watering but allows local governments to impose stricter regulations. The water district will be weighing tougher restrictions when it meets this month, Felix said.

Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said the county could follow Tampa's lead. "It's entirely possible, given the drought conditions," she said. That would have to come from a vote by the seven commissioners.

Tampa homeowners associations, many of which have large underground irrigation systems that serve their common areas, were scrambling Thursday to understand how the rules will affect them and to notify residents who live under their rules, which require landscaping and yards be kept lush and green.

"People will be grumbling, but we have to do it," said Suzanne Levine, president of the West Meadows Property Owners Association in New Tampa.

Maggie Wilson, a representative of the Tampa Palms community in New Tampa, said she supports the move but might have a hard time explaining the rules to residents. Tampa Palms has about 120 acres of grass-covered common areas that likely will go unwatered.

"Nobody likes brown lawns, but we clearly understand that the city had no choice but to take these actions," she said. "Our drinking water is vanishing in front of our eyes."

Can The Grass Take It?

Experts say the length of time lawns can go without water depends on a number of factors, including the type of grass and how well the lawn has been maintained.

"There are so many different variables," said Kevin Slaughter, senior groundskeeper at the University of South Florida's Botanical Gardens. "At best, most species can go a month."

St. Augustine grass can take as much as an inch a week of water to stay healthy. When deprived of water it turns a bluish-gray, the blades wilt and it doesn't bounce back quickly when stepped on.

A typical home irrigation system uses 2,000 gallons for one cycle, and that would take a long time for a homeowner to duplicate with a hose.

Whether hand-watering can sustain a lawn is debatable.

"You're either going to end up overwatering or underwatering in some areas," he said. "And really, who wants to spend hours standing in the same place to water a lawn?"

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679.

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