Florida County is limiting lawn

In an effort to meet Florida's water conservation goals, Volusia County has become the first in the state to pass an ordinance requiring new homes to have less lawn. The ordinance mandates that at least 25 percent of new yards have landscapes requiring little or no irrigation.

The ordinance limits the amount of yard permitted to use high volume irrigation at new homes and businesses. Under the ordinance, 50 percent of a new landscape can be irrigated up to one inch of water per week. Alternately, homeowners can have more grass-up to 75 percent of the yard-if the rest of the landscape retains the original, natural vegetation without irrigation. Homeowners can opt to plant grass on the entire yard with watering limitations.

A Volusia County study estimates that by 2020 the local St. John's River aquifer will not support local water needs. A county commission subsequently recommended that ?EUR??,,????'??building regulations regarding landscaping be reviewed and revised on a countywide basis to provide for elimination of high water usage landscaping in new development as called for in Florida statute 125.568.?EUR??,,????'??

The ordinance went into effect on July 1.

Sources: The Irrigation Association, Volusia County, Fla.