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Re: County exceeding water limit, Dec. 20 Times:

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published December 29, 2006

Re: County exceeding water limit, Dec. 20 Times:

Officials, wake up about water woes

As I read the article about the west side of Hernando County violating its daily water use cap since March, it astounded me that this is seemingly such a surprise to the county. The Southwest Florida Water Management District sets the cap on groundwater use. Violating the cap is against the law and could mean fines for the county's utility department, which, of course, affects customers. We haven't had an overabundance of rain since March, which isn't really unusual.

The point I want to bring forward is this: When all of the new growth on the west side of the county is still being allowed, what other outcome could be expected?

The County Commission gives the okay for new construction, be it residential or commercial. Is Swiftmud consulted about how new construction will affect the water supply? Are the developers made aware of the problems with the water supply? Most importantly, are prospective home buyers made aware of what they're buying into?

Is it right to lure home buyers to the county without making them fully aware of all the situations existing in the county? The water supply problem, our traffic, road and school systems, sinkholes, property taxes, insurance, other infrastructure - is it right to have them become part of the problem, then little by little, be made to deal with all the issues?

With the water rates as they are now, and constantly being raised, most likely the utility's customers do not water their lawns longer than needed. (One exception might be homeowners who have private wells. Their sprinklers don't use county water, so they don't see high water bills.) The Hernando County Utilities Department penalizes us by charging more when more water is used. At the same time, who is responsible in the end for your home and property? The homeowner is the one who must deal with lawn care. If you happen to live in a development with an association, the association will come after the homeowners if things aren't kept up.

Our officials need to wake up and see the harm being done to our once-lovely county. It's not just water problems we have, although it certainly is a top concern.

Rita C. DeFalco, Spring Hill

Water hogs must learn to conserve

We are told that Florida is in such a constant state of drought that 70 percent of homeowners' water usage goes to their lawns. This is why we have watering restrictions.

Homeowners, though, due to their unquenchable thirst for watering, drown out water restrictions. These water hogs saturate lawns on weekends and late at night, when code enforcement is off.

Unless adequate conservation stems the flow of this liquid gold, the well eventually will run dry. There is talk of raising the cost of water to slow demand.

For those of you who care about your state, your country and your neighbors, continue to bottle up your water usage. Hopefully watering violators will shut off their spigots before we all have to pay through the nose.

Cindy Johnson, New Port Richey

[Last modified December 29, 2006, 06:40:53]