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Water efforts helping, but don't relax just yet
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 24, 2001 The heftier fines, public education, and general brow beating are showing signs of working. Water use in Pasco County is down 14.4 percent compared to a year ago, according to statistics from the county utility department. Data distributed to commissioners last week show the county drawing an average of 17.16-million gallons per day from Tampa Bay Water for May 1-13. A year earlier, the county used more than 20-million gallons a day. The county also draws up to 4-million gallons a day from its own wells. The data are similar across the region -- demand on Tampa Bay Water's 11 well fields is down 10 percent for May compared to May 2000. The news is welcome and the public should be commended for its quick response to the emergency conservation efforts. The reduction in Pasco comes after the county beefed up enforcement of watering restrictions, quadrupled its fines, and limited the time people can irrigate and wash their vehicles. Landscape irrigation has become the focus of Pasco's efforts because automatic sprinkler systems use an average of 2,036 gallons of water each time they are used. By comparison, individuals use an estimated 70 gallons of water per day for flushing toilets, drinking, bathing, cooking and laundry. But, the short-term conservation is not likely to be a long-term answer. The region needs more than two years' worth of annual rainfall to replenish the aquifer to pre-drought levels. Additional work remains. Dade City, for instance, plans to consider bulking up its watering fines and Pasco's utility officials are exploring a so-called shallow well program that is now in use in Pinellas County. Under that effort, Pinellas County reimburses homeowners half the cost, up to $300, to sink a shallow well for landscape irrigation. To qualify, residents must be county water customers and not have access to reclaimed water now or in the next five years. The idea is encouraging, particularly in a county like Pasco where demand for reclaimed water is growing faster than the supply. It is likely more practical in west Pasco where heavy urbanization mirrors the Pinellas landscape. But, across the county, the benefit -- reduced use of county water for irrigation, which should mean less stress on regional well fields in the long run -- must be weighed against potential environmental damage from tapping the superficial aquifer in the proximity of cypress head and other wetlands areas. Such a program could be one component of what is expected to be a rethinking of water use in Pasco County. A study to set inverted water rates that penalize heavier users is in the works and commissioners say they want to encourage homeowners to use drought tolerant plants, drip irrigation and other water-saving measures. The commission should expedite the effort. Its own data show the public is receptive to the message.
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