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Results of ignoring Modified Phase III Restrictions
This issue has been touched upon a little but I asked for and received more info from the Regulatory folks at the water conservancy district that covers Sumter County (most of The Villages). A couple of days ago my lawn care company visited to check my irrigation system since the grass is starting to look a bit over-stressed. The technician said it was working fine but he on his own volition changed the Hunter Controller to irrigate twice per week. I said no that can't happen since we are under a Modified Phase III restriction now which limits us to only once per week. The technician said not to worry about that, every one irrigates at least a couple of times a week and anyway it's my lawn, not the water conservancy people's lawn. Well, I told him to set it back to the legal restriction settings. Does anyone else remember the television show in the late 50s that usually ended with Mom saying to the kid, "Two wrongs don't make a right"? I wrote to the water conservancy to find out what the results would be if I were caught violating the restrictions. Here is the email I just received today (July 17).
"If the irrigation company is adjusting the systems to water on the wrong day and/or time, it would ultimately be the responsibility of the homeowner to have the system readjusted or risk a fine of up to $500 (for each occurrence). If the technician caused the fine, by adjusting the system to water incorrectly, then the technician or the technician’s company may be responsible in a civil proceeding. If you would like to provide us with the company name and address, we are willing to send a letter, letting them know that they causing their customers to risk a fine by adjusting their irrigation systems incorrectly. If you should have any additional questions or concerns, please reply to this email or call us at 1-800-848-0499." I know a lot of TOTV people will blow this off as "It is my lawn and it costs a lot more than $500 to replace the grass." I won't argue with that but I'll bet if you get caught once, you will be reinspected often again. Just saying. . . |
Thanks for the info BUT, I have a problem with them putting my lawn at risk while at the same time allowing continuing new construction. New construction means additional potable water hookups, new landscaping needing daily watering to survive, and new golf courses needing millions of gallons every day. This does not even consider the 3,500 unit apartment complex being built at the intersection of powell rd. and 466a. If the water supply is critical enough to jeopardize my investment, stop the new construction NOW.
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I know there's a restriction but here's a question? If you water at night who's going to check? And if a water 1 day for a total of 2 hours or twice a week for a total of 2 hours, what's the difference?
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Water restrictions
Wonder if drilling a well would be worth while.
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Bill :) |
I hear you both and can't / won't argue the merits of the restrictions. And who will know if you are watering if you do it at night (which almost everyone does)? Beats me but anyone can report a violation - even anonymously. I'm just saying at $500 a pop everyone needs to make their own decision. If we're lucky the current watering restriction will be allowed to expire the end of this month, or at least it will be lowered to a less restrictive level as it was previously and we can at least go back to twice a week just like those in Lake County can already do.
Oops! Thanks jblum315. Yes, I meant twice a week not twice a day. :) |
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Has anyone reading this forum heard of anyone having to pay the five hundred bucks?
I have heard of people saying they got a warning. If we didn't restrict ourselves somewhat, than it would be bad for all of us. You can water stuff with your hose at anytime. Most of the yards are small enough to keep things from dying if you would sprinkle them with your hose. |
A few operative words I see.
risk a fine of up to $500 Risk means it may or may not occur. Up to can mean a dollar > $500 My guess is a repeat offender may get fine higher than a first timer. Also you have a chance to pled your case and argue many issues. Water your lawn IMO. |
Two words: Soaker hoses
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At least that is how it looks to me. The ban on watering, by the way is a state wide situation and we are in the St. Johns River water management district .http://www.sjrwmd.com/ So it is a situation that is not just limited here in TV. PLUS...let us be realistic. Drive around TV, nothing is dying. It rains practically every day in the summer. Don't I remember a post from you saying the developers were "hypocrites" when the sprinklers were running during the heavy rain of tropical storm Debby to keep down the danger of flooding? It takes a while living here, at least a year, to see that everything is pretty much run alright. Maybe a lot better than alright. |
A response to the statement, who is going to catch you if you water at night?
Just saying: I've seen white vcdd pickup trucks driving through the 'hood here in St James well after midnight, on more than one occasion. |
Has anyone else noticed while driving around you see sprinklers running at all times during the day. Several even at 3 & 4 in the afternoon. Late afternoon and evening hours will likely cause a fungus in your yard, if done regularly During the day- watering, lot of the water will evaporate. The inspector for my house set the timer for 1am. He said at that time setting i shouldn't have a fungus problem. The sun will dry the grass early morning. I'm talking about residential yards.
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Village Community Development Districts Shortage Order Information.pdf'&ql=standard The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board issued a Modified Phase III Water Shortage that took effect on March 10, 2012 for the northern counties. The order restricts residential and commercial irrigation of lawns and landscaping to one-day-per-week. In addition to residents and commercial facilities in Sumter County, the restrictions also apply to residents and commercial facilities in the Marion County portion of The Villages as their water is supplied by facilities regulated by SWFWMD. The following is a summary of the restrictions. Lawn and landscape irrigation may only occur before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. on the designated once-per-week watering schedule. Handwatering or microirrigation of non-lawn landscape can be done any day, but only before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Certain exemptions are available, such as allowances for new plant material. Car washing is limited to once per week on the designated watering days as shown below. Fountains and other aesthetic-only water features may only operate 4 hours per day. Pressure washing is only allowed for necessary purposes, such as prior to painting or sealing. Aesthetic concerns do not constitute a “necessary” purpose. Addresses with “house numbers” …. May only irrigate on … Ending in 0 or 1 Monday Ending in 2 or 3 Tuesday Ending in 4 or 5 Wednesday Ending in 6 or 7 Thursday Ending in 8 or 9 Friday All customers must modify their irrigation timer to only irrigate once per week in accordance with the above table. For complete details or to ask questions about these restrictions, visit the Southwest Florida Water Management |
they know when you over water you get a letter in the mail that you are using too much water and to fix it
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As for being invisible water companies have wireless meters being installed and can tell at any given time whether you are taking a shower, washing clothes, etc. it creeps me out but then government is not high on my list. I had a problem with my water system and the utility company set me a warning and then came to my home to inspect. We worked it out as it was accidental. heck i don't want to give them any more oif my hard earned cash than need be...and i am especially mad about the three tier system in sumter county. |
They do not have to catch u running your sprinklers on the wrong dates or running them twice a week. They monitor ur water usage on the meter and know the size of ur property. Therefore, they can very easily determine if u r using more water than u shud. Big brother is watching.
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Ok but sprinkler heads can output 1-10 gpm, so if your putting out 10gpm how would they know
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Run the system and read the meter
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Interesting how many people are "law and order" advocates and are first in line to criticize young people in the square, or people who save seats at the square or people whose pets poop where they are not supposed to etc. etc. etc., but when it comes to their precious lawn they are willing to break the rules and brag about it. It seems it all depends on whose ox is being gored.
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Amen!
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I fully understand the reasoning for the restriction. What irritates me though is the 10% surcharge that is tacked onto the base per thousand rates of both the potable and irrigation waters to cover the loss of revenue due to the lack of water useage (conservation). If you have a better explanation as to why a surcharge was added, then by all means enlighten me.
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A few weeks ago they closed some golf courses so that they could run the irrigation systems because the ponds were getting too full. If that's the case, why do we still have watering restrictions?
Why don't they allow the ponds to get higher then they do? Why is it that I see one pond up beyond the tree line and another one almost dry? Just some questions that I've been pondering for several weeks now. |
"ponds" or retention areas actually have nothing to do with the water sources, except rainwater runoff. It is actually water that is prevented from draining down into the aquifer because the "ponds have a plastic liner. Water levels vary quite a bit because TV has the ability to move water to where it is needed through the storm drain system. The restrictions are put in place by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, based on lack of rainfall in the southwestern part of the state.
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If you are lucky to live in the St. Johns River Water District you can legally water 2 days a week. That is Lake County. If I were Tiger Woods, I could hit a golf ball from my yard into Lake County. Well almost----but you get the point. We are all pulling water out of the exact same Aquifer.
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How can their be a restriction when all this new constructions is being allowed? Then we have the ponds full and they pump em dry for sink hole protection. |
They don't have to see u watering ur lawn at 3:00AM to cite u. All they have to do is measure ur usage for the month, look at ur lot size and they can figure out how much u r using. If they want to enforce the ban, it is an easy task for them without even leaving their office.
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