Water shortage
 

Copied from the other place:
"Villagers are being asked to cut back on water usage as the aquifer level is down from one year ago.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has declared a Modified Phase In Water Shortage. It will be in effect through July 1.

In Sumter County, even numbered addresses can water before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. on Thursday and/or before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. on Sundays. Odd-numbered addresses can water before 10 a.m. on Wednesdays and/or before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Saturdays."


Homes north of 466 are the only homes (that I know of) that use potable water for irrigation. That being the case, why would it matter if the homes that used reclaimed water need to cut back? Is there some other use for reclaimed water, or is there a danger of running out of it?

Because"………homes don’t use reclaimed water.
Village Community Development Districts

Home Irrigation:

North of CR 466, homes are irrigated with potable water.
South of CR 466, homes are irrigated with non-potable water which is comprised of storm water runoff that is collected in water retention areas and groundwater from the lower Floridan aquifer when storm water supplies are not available.

Golf Course Irrigation:

North of CR 466, golf courses are irrigated with a combination of reclaimed wastewater, storm water runoff that is collected in water retention areas, and groundwater (some upper Floridan and some Lower Floridan, depending on the specific course).
South of CR 466 all golf courses are irrigated with a combination of reclaimed wastewater and lower Floridan groundwater.

Please note that any reclaimed wastewater that is used for golf course irrigation is treated and meets the public access reuse standards established and required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

No problem, the water level in the aquifer can easily be replenished by building a crap load of more houses and a whole bunch more of the necessary commercial development to support the growth.

Don’t forget the bottle water factory that pumps thousands gallons a day that was approved 3 or 4 years ago?

Sounds like it is an issue in Sumter County only?

No, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD) covers several counties including Sumter and Lake.

Marion county is part of the St John's River Water Management District. That district has also established restrictions on irrigation.

If water usage is a concern now, what will it be like in 25 years when the area (Villages and non-Villages) has grown by another 50-100,000 people?

Up north we have water restrictions, yet they continue to build new subdivisions.

Most on this site won’t need to worry 25 years from now. But their heirs will be far more capable of coming up with solutions for improving quality of many things

Some of that is covered in the SWFWMD Water Restrictions FAQ.

My cynical interpretation: by imposing restrictions on current users, the numbers can be manipulated to show there is no need to limit lucrative new developments. And besides that, any issues arising 25 years from now will be someone else's problem.

Maybe their heirs (and ours) will be smart enough to realize that we don't need our lawns to look like a fairway at Augusta National.

How does regulating WHEN we water reduce how much we use?
And, what is the benefit of having half of the homes all using water at the same time, four times a week?

lol
They could allow more homes to have desert lawns like Arizona does.

As Artie Johnson used to say "Verrrry Interesting" In meantime, TV does not like zeriscaping and/or fake grass.

The underground aquifers don’t necessarily follow County lines.

Up north I have Kentucky Blue Grass, that looks and feels like velvet. Florida has weeds that in disguise as grass. No amount of water can make you want to walk on it.

If you can't get villagers to agree on dog poop and driving roundabout opinions how? Would you be able to coordinate everyone to water their lawns at the same?

You can read the monthly reports on the florida aquifers HERE

You will read that they are a bit low but nothing severe, however weare behind on rain for 2023 and the November levels in many wells was below the November normal range.

Also found is data on stream flow, lake surface level, output of springs etc. Lots of information.

Exactly! The Commissioners just rubber stamp everything and then
the quality of life goes down.

Close the water bottling plant.

Just about everywhere in the U.S. there is a proclaimed water shortage and drought conditions, and that's been the case for many years. We seem to continue to survive our shortage of water despite the growth in population. Will the population exceed the capacity for fresh water in this country? Possibly someday it will, but it seems that will take population exceeding the Planet's capacity. The issue may extend beyond water as we deplete other resources as well.

I agree. To me, it is not about running out of water, it is about the cost of water. Desalination plants can even convert seawater into drinking water. How could the planet ever run out of seawater?

They need to stop selling water to Nestle, and get rid of lawns. Maintaining grass lawns increases greenhouse gasses, pollutes ecosystems, wastes water, and diminishes biodiversity. Grass lawns are expensive, unsustainable, and poor investments. While more environmentally friendly than pavement, grass lawns and their upkeep come with heavy carbon costs. (Copied on Google)

I agree, but the more environmentally conscious among us (I state it circumspectly) are already over THAT idea like flies on dung. Their major complaint is that by discharging water heavier on salt back into the oceans after separating out fresh water (which is how it is done) it changes the salinity of the seawater at the point of discharge, thus conceivably harming ocean plant/animal life. I'm not sure if there is any credible research done on this topic, but that is the argument. It is not new technology, by the way: Titanic had desalination equipment to produce fresh water for the ship. And anyone who has taken a cruise on any of the larger cruise ship knows that with their desalination equipment, they produce enough fresh water to not only assure that the cruisers have all the water they want but also enough to supply the fun and games aboard. The Flow Rider on RCCL ships for example needs 30,000 gallons of fresh water in order to operate.

But in reality this agonizing over this perceived water shortage is merely another sky-is-falling histrionic. Lake mead, for example, received plenty of attention on the part of the environmentally conscious after the water level sank over several years to what were termed dangerous levels. But after 2021 Mama Nature took over, replenishing the lake water by natural means. An article in Newsweek (12/8/23) states, in part: "Lake Mead, which is in Nevada and Arizona, reached drastically low levels last summer after years of drought, but water levels have since started to recover because of above-average precipitation and snowpack that have melted this summer. Stunning photos comparing this year's levels to those of 2022 have abounded on social media, including how the rising levels again submerged a previously sunken boat that was revealed during the drought.

The lake has blown past 2022 water levels by more than 20 feet, and last Saturday, Lake Mead reached another milestone when it surpassed 2021 levels for the first time this year, a feat AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dave Houk previously told Newsweek was unlikely to happen given forecast trends."

This is why I don't give the gloom-and-gloomers much attention. Hysteria makes for poor science.

lol. ^^^This. Where I come from we have Kentucky bluegrass too. St August is more like the quack and crabgrass we are trying to kill.

Why do they call it blue grass if it is green?

Rolling out the "Mission Accomplished" banner already?

I hope you are right but I'm going to hold my applause for at least one more dry-wet cycle.

Besides most of our irrigation water coming from reclaimed water from the ponds, how do they expect everyone to adhear to these water conservation rules in effect until July 1 without sending a notice to every homeowner? Do they actually believe everyone effected reads Talk of the Villages or reads the Villages News?

Too many people moving into Florida!

If you are following the watering guidelines available somewhere off districtgov.org and likely posted in your low-power box (irrigation box, white box) in your garage then you are already in compliance with the "new" rules.

The Golf courses are the biggest users of water by far. Why will the Villages not allow more water friendly landscaping? We should be allowed to have a much larger % of stone landscaping in our yards subject to approval of course!

The story goes that the developments in Florida need to get some sort of approval from the area Water Management District (SWFWMD for most of the Villages). That approval came with a requirement for a certain percentage of permeable area. Stone is allowed in some Villa types and not others in order to maintain that percentage.

Yes, stone is permeable in that the water can move around and past the stone. However, much/most/all stone landscaping is placed over a weed barrier. Accurate or not, the claim is the SWFWMD considers the stone + barrier combination to be impermeable. Replacing sod with stone + barrier changes the agreed upon percentages putting the Villages out of compliance with their agreement with the SWFWMD.

Again, that is the story as I have heard it but I have not seen any documentation supporting the story.

I agree that there is a "fetish" about front lawns looking perfect here. It probably comes from those from "up north" that get used to the easy-to- look-good soft grasses that grow in the north. Most people in The Villages NEVER use their front yard for anything. Why not allow (and encourage) people to have rock gardens for 50% of their yard. That way the rain water gets down to the aquifer with less evaporation and use by the grass.
...........Also, the golf courses spray water for great distances and that has to produce a lot of evaporation. Maybe the golf courses should be shorter and more par 3s take their place.

Lots of weird situations happen in The Villages. For example why is it necessary to plant flowers on the roundabouts and then a couple times per year, tear out the old flowers and plant new ones. Drivers eyes are NOT supposed to be concentrated on flowers (as they wreck). Why NOT plant some permanent plants and leave them there?

That would not resolve a thing. Workers would be required to weed, fertilize, trim, remove sickly and replant with new on a regular basis. I am guessing the program they have implemented is cheaper in the long run.

Cities throughout Florida have always placed restrictions on watering during times of little rain or drought. After a rainy season, the restrictions get lifted. It has been this way for decades.

The Villages population is small compared to cities like Miami and Jacksonville. Restrictions are tougher in these larger cities when a drought persists.

Amen! Anyplace south of 44 is NOTHING like living here .

:what:

There are plants that need no regular fertilizing. There are a lot of Florida-friendly TOUGH plants that need ZERO attention. It is just a choice that is made to look pretty back in the day when it was felt that "PRETTY" increased home sales. Also, early on in Village History, the population density was too low to affect the water table.

:BigApplause: :eclipsee_gold_cup: :bigbow:

That will change. Snow has been very sparse this winter and forecasts are not optimistic.

To answer your last ?. that makes too much sense. They could plant loriope(sp) in those places. Need small amounts of water, last forever, cold and heat resistant.

Okay! I agree on the plants. But, it does not matter where you live in Florida. When there is little rain or drought, the ENTIRE state follows water restrictions. Again, it has been like this for decades.