WEST PALM BEACH, FL-- Did you know you can't water your lawn anytime you want?
"We've had some sort of water restrictions in place for over two years now," said Randy Smith, District Spokesperson for South Florida Water Management.
We just finished one of the hottest and driest October's ever on record, with rainfall totals three to five inches below average for the month.
"We've already got some monitor wells that are in the yellow and the red stage, meaning that they're lower than where they historically would be. So, we have to be very cautious in approaching this," said Smith.
Cautious means making sure we don't go overboard using our fresh water, as we sometimes have a tendency to do.
"Especially if you have no restrictions in place, there tends to be a lot of landscape irrigating. And that is one of the biggest areas where you can reduce the amount of water," said Smith.
The penalties aren't just costly to the environment, but to your pockets as well.
"Some are well over a hundred dollars for your first violation and then it's tiered so if you get caught a second time, it's even more. So, there's plenty of incentive not to get caught," said Smith.
Right now businesses and residences with odd number addresses can water their lawns on Wednesdays and Saturdays at specific times. Even numbered addresses can water on Thursdays and Sundays. But these restrictions might not just be temporary.
"What we're going to see is that the district is going to move toward some sort of permanent water conservation," said Smith.
Until that happens, under the current restrictions, can we still wash our cars and stuff like that?
"The one's that we're in right now are specifically aimed at landscape irrigation. There's no restrictions on any of the other activities other than it's a good idea to use common sense," said Smith.
Common sense that can help save water, our future generations, and the other creatures that share the world around us.
