County Mulls Tougher Watering Rules

As South Florida feels the effects of drought conditions, Palm Beach County officials may be forced to toughen landscape watering rules. The county currently allows watering three times per week while neighboring counties have imposed twice-a-week rules.

Warnings of a drought to come have failed to convince Palm Beach County commissioners to toughen landscape watering rules, but South Florida water managers soon may force the county's hand.

Broward and Miami-Dade counties last year voluntarily imposed twice-a-week, year-round watering restrictions, but Palm Beach County chose to allow watering three times a week.

After an update on worsening water conditions, Palm Beach County commissioners agreed to call for more voluntary conservation but stopped short of imposing tougher watering rules.

That could change however if the South Florida Water Management District approves emergency watering restrictions.

“This is a matter of when, not if,” Commission Chairwoman Karen Marcus said of the county's expected move to twice-a-week watering.

The county’s move to tougher watering restrictions should have come long ago, according to the Sierra Club and other environmental advocates.

About half of South Florida's public water supply is used for landscaping.

That could be lessened if Palm Beach County and other areas allowed less watering and if residents and businesses used drought-tolerant, native landscaping, said Drew Martin of the Sierra Club.

“If your landscape needs three-day-a-week [watering], then there’s a problem with your landscaping,” said Martin, a member of the Palm Beach County Soil and Water Conservation District board.

South Florida just had its driest October-to-December span on record, and Lake Okeechobee, South Florida’s backup water supply, dropped to more than two feet below normal. This comes as forecasters are projecting a drier-than-normal winter and spring dry season.

“We certainly are facing several months of extreme dry weather,” water management district representative Laura Corry told county commissioners. “Now is really the time to call for conservation.”

The district’s governing board meets this week to discuss the dry weather and concerns about strained water supplies.

The district last year for the first time imposed year-round watering restrictions, requiring communities in southeast Florida to restrict landscape irrigation.

Even with the new rules, the district can impose tougher emergency watering restrictions during droughts.