Phase IV Water Restrictions

Well, one day after my speech about water conservation, in which I mentioned that we were under a Phase III water shortage, SWFWMD has voted to move to a Phase IV (critical) water shortage, the most severe shortage ever experienced in the Tampa Bay area.

Water resources are now officially at a critically low level; as this article at Bay News 9 mentions, the Hillsborough River, which supplies most of the drinking water for the city of Tampa, is so low that in many places one can walk across the river without going more than knee-deep in water. River flows for all of the major rivers in the Tampa Bay region (Hillsborough River, Alafia River, Peace River, Anclote River, etc), on a scale from 0 to 100 (0 being worst), are hovering around the 2nd percentile. Some lakes in the area (Lake Tarpon, for example) are two feet below their lowest previously recorded levels. Right now Lake Tarpon is less than 8 feet deep in areas where it should be almost 20 feet.

With wildfires breaking out all over Central Florida, and drought conditions likely to worsen (April is historically the month with the lowest rainfall- only about 1.5"), the water shortage is only going to get worse until the rains start in May/June. Even then, it will take months for surface water levels to get back to normal, and the reservoir still has a great deal of repair to undergo before it can be used to store water.

The new water restrictions include outright bans on:
* Ornamental fountains/outdoor water features
* Residential pressure washing
* Car washing
* Campfires and controlled burns

...and a reduction in the amount of time you can water your lawn- down from thirty minutes maximum to twenty minutes maximum. Remember to adjust your sprinklers, fines in every affected county are over $100 for a first offense ($188 in Pinellas!).

Some tips on saving water around the house

Some general information on household water conservation can be found here: 25 ways to save water, 100 ways to save water (bigger list, some stuff repeated). The two big ones are low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators. Even if you don't have a paltry $10 to spend on a low-flow showerhead (which, I might add, will easily save you that much per year on water), you can get low-flow faucet aerators at most home improvement stores for less than $5 each. They can reduce the water being used by your faucets by half.

In addition, even if you can't install a new low-flow toilet because you're renting, can't afford to right now, or whatever reason, you CAN put an inch or two of gravel or sand at the bottom of a two-liter plastic bottle, fill the bottle with water and stick that in your toilet's tank. You'll be saving a half gallon every time you flush.

Tampa Bay Area Watering Restrictions

WATERING RESTRICTIONS ACROSS THE TAMPA BAY AREA (as of 29 Mar 09)
Here in Florida, we're under a continuing Phase III (Extreme) water shortage alert, and the drought is ongoing. The 15 billion gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir is bone dry, surface water resources are so thoroughly tapped out that we've started pulling water from sinkholes to meet demand, and we haven't even hit the driest month of the year yet (April).

Check you sprinkler systems if you have them and make sure they're configured to the right days/times (or off altogether! Hand watering your landscape saves thousands of gallons of water). Make sure you know what days you're supposed to water on, and remember not to water between 8 AM and 6 PM (5-6 AM is ideal- lowest water demand and plenty of time for the plants to absorb the water before it evaporates under the sun), and never longer than 30 minutes, once per allowed day.

It's also worth noting that lawns are the only things with watering restrictions, check SWFWMD's page for a general overview of what is and isn't restricted. In general though, things like car washing, pressure washing, filling or topping off of pools and the like are restricted to certain days of the week, or not at all. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK BEFORE YOU TURN ON THE HOSE! THE FINES ARE NO JOKE!

WATERING RESTRICTIONS
See restrictions for Pasco
See restrticions for Unincorporated Pinellas (Except St. Pete)
- See restrticions for St. Petersburg
See restrticions for Unincorporated Hillsborough (Except Tampa, Plant City or Temple Terrace)
- See restrticions for Tampa
- See restrticions for Plant City
- See restrticions for Temple Terrace