OUR VIEW - Feb. 27

April 07, 2008 01:41 pm

— Mandatory water-use restrictions for the 15-county Suwannee River Water Management District don't go into effect for more than a month. We see no reason not to start conservation efforts today.
Doing your part is simple. Turn off your sprinklers during the heat of the day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Much of the water just evaporates before it can do any good anyway. Also, water your lawn no more than two days a week. That's plenty for grass, plants and shrubs to thrive.
Sound simple? It is. But it's enough to make a difference. And it may soon be the law.
Water management officials originally floated a plan which used even or odd street addresses to determine watering schedules. Now they're leaning toward something less complex - the plan described above. Simpler is better, the argument goes. We agree.
Now, the simplicity of this plan may actually make it harder to enforce. Anyone bent on reporting his or her neighbor to the authorities will have a hard time documenting violations of the two-days rule, since you can pick any two days a week you want to water. But that's fine, too. As Water Management's Cindy Johnson notes, "Our goal is not to have neighbors reporting on neighbors."
It wouldn't do much good anyway. As a practical matter, enforcement of water-use rules is close to impossible. The county commission is looking for ways to police the new regulations, but in the end we'll have to rely on ourselves - on our own awareness of the seriousness of the problem, and our own sense of personal integrity. Let's hope that's not a problem.
Meanwhile, the new regulations take effect April 7. We see no reason to wait. Let's get started today.

For more information, including the more complex rules which will govern commercial and agricultural usage, go to www.srwmd.state.fl.us.