Opinion: Don't lift water restrictions

The city of Tampa acted responsibly by rejecting the bad idea to relax watering restrictions. The rules are designed not only to save water, but also to change public attitudes about conservation. Encouraging residents to plant new grass and pour more water on their lawns would have sent the wrong message while the region is grappling with a water supply problem.

City Council member Linda Saul-Sena had asked the city to consider waiving its once-a-week watering rule for people who plant new sod. They could water every day for 15 days; for 15 days thereafter, every other day. Even new turf doesn't need this much water. The schedule also would be easy to manipulate and difficult to enforce. Would city inspectors be expected to measure the sprinkling range on individual lawns to ensure that only new turf was watered? Could a homeowner continually plug a lawn to keep the water flowing without restriction?

Tampa has shown leadership by imposing some of the tightest water restrictions in the region. If anything, the city's rules should be adopted by other governments in Tampa Bay -- not relaxed to regional standards. The city in recent years has promoted xeriscape landscaping, which is a sound strategy for reducing water consumption over the long term. Reverting to a policy that promotes an expansion of sod would reverse those gains. It would tell the people who were motivated to cut back or invest in drought-resistant plants the city wasn't serious about conserving after all.

The public is willing to sacrifice and to change old habits. But it needs to believe the warnings of a water shortage are credible. The city would undermine its authority to speak as a resource manager if it suddenly caved in to the water hogs who refuse to change. If this idea resurfaces in July, under political cover of the summer rains, the city should still say no to hyper-hydrated turf.

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