Water Shortage Restrictions In Place Throughout Tampa Bay Area

FLORIDA — Much of the greater Tampa Bay area and nearby counties are experiencing a water shortage and face restrictions on water usage, according to a Southwest Florida Water Management District news release.

Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties will be limited to once-per-week lawn watering beginning Dec. 1, after a Tuesday vote by the SWFMD governing board.

The board declared a modified phase one water shortage because of ongoing dry conditions throughout the region and increasing water supply concerns, the agency said.

The restrictions apply to all of Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties; portions of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake counties; the city of Dunnellon and The Villages in Marion County; and the portion of Gasparilla Island in Lee County from Nov. 21 through July 1.

The district received lower than normal rainfall during its summer rainy season and currently has a 9.2-inch districtwide rainfall deficit compared to the average 12-month total, SWFMD. In addition, water levels in the district’s water resources, such as aquifers, rivers and lakes, are beginning to decline.

The board’s water shortage order doesn’t change allowable watering schedules for most counties, however it does prohibit “wasteful and unnecessary” water use, the agency said.

Twice-per-week lawn watering schedules remain in effect except where stricter measures have been imposed by local governments.

Residents are asked to check their irrigation systems to ensure they are working properly. This means testing and repairing broken pipes and leaks, and fixing damaged or tilted sprinkler heads. They should also check their irrigation timer to ensure the settings are correct, and the rain sensor is working properly.

Starting Dec. 1, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties will be limited to once-per-week lawn watering. These additional restrictions are needed because Tampa Bay Water, which supplies water to most of the three-county area, was unable to completely refill the 15-billion-gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir this summer due to the lower-than-normal rainfall, SWFMD said.

Once-per-week lawn watering days and times are as follows unless specific municipalities have a different schedule or stricter hours in effect (Citrus, Hernando and Sarasota counties, and the cities of Dunedin and Venice, have local ordinances that remain on one-day-per-week schedules.)

If your address (house number) ends in:

• 0 or 1, water only on Monday
• 2 or 3, water only on Tuesday
• 4 or 5, water only on Wednesday
• 6 or 7, water only on Thursday
• .8 or 9 and locations without a discernible address, water only on Friday

Unless your city or county already has stricter hours in effect, properties under two acres in size may only water before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. and properties two acres or larger may only water before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.

Low-volume watering of plants and shrubs, such as micro-irrigation, soaker hoses and hand watering, is allowed any day and any time.

The order also requires local utilities to review and implement procedures for enforcing year-round water conservation measures and water shortage restrictions, including reporting enforcement activity to the district, SWFMD said.