City of Wildwood new watering restrictions
 

I saw that the following statement was recently released by the City of Wildwood. It's unclear to me if that means it supercedes the CDD's rules? Currently my irrigation is on Mondays and Thursdays, but according to this, it seems many people would need to change their irrigation schedule.

"In Sumter County, including the entire City of Wildwood, lawn watering is restricted to no more than twice per week and designates specific days and times during which that watering may occur.
Properties having street addresses with even numbers (ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 ) may water on Thursday and/or Sunday before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Addresses with odd numbers (ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9) may water on Wednesday and/or Saturday before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Locations without an assigned address may water on Tuesday and/or Friday before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.
Certain exceptions apply to hand watering, micro-irrigation of plants other than lawns, newly planted landscaping, and other specific situations. Restrictions remain in effect through July 1, 2024, unless otherwise announced."

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I plan to continue to follow my Villages schedule.

1. This already limits watering to two days per week.
2. The Villages schedule spreads out water usage to preserve retention pond levels
3. I do not live in an incorporated section so I am not subject to Wildwood rules
4. These restrictions apply to systems that use potable water while my system does not

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It actually applies to all of Sumter county as well which makes up I believe most of TV.

Good point about the Southern part of TV not using potable water so it's probably moot. I just wish that there was some official response from the CDD's about this.

For an official response you will want to speak to one of the utility CDDs. Contact information can be found on districtgov.org.

I did send a copy of the notice to the CDD and asked if it applied to me since we live in a part of the Villages in the Wildwood city limits. This was the response:

"Good Morning,

Thank you for your email.
At this time, The Villages in under parts of the restrictions, down to 2 days a week.
We have always recommend you follow The Villages Irrigation schedule, which I have attached for you.
This is a schedule we produce yearly and can be found on our website, to help prevent situations like this.

Thank you again for the email and we will continue to monitor.
Should anything change, we will be notifying all residents in the zoned area.

Have a wonderful day!"

Received from Villages District staff

Just for clarity, we already had a two day per week watering schedule in place in the Villages (Oct 19 Weekly Bulletin info pgs 9-11, and the schedule is posted on the website). The two day per week watering schedule hasn’t changed for the Villages in years. The schedule not the easiest to follow, but here it is:
Irrigation Schedules | TheVillagesWaterWisdom

This came out December 1st:

Modified Phase I Water Shortage Restrictions Frequently Asked Questions | WaterMatters.org.

Item 2. The Villages does not do anything to preserve the retention pond levels. The ponds were built to contain water in times of heavy rain that would otherwise cause flooding. The less water there is in the ponds means there is less chance of flooding due to the increased capacity to hold more overflow. They were also NOT built to used as a scenic backdrop to homes.

Are you sure my irrigation water does not come from the ponds? Are you confident water is not moved from one pond to another with consideration of adequate levels for irrigation? Clearly not all of the ponds, some go dry, but others seem to get replenished during dry periods. I believe hydrant water is on the same system as irrigation water in my area so maintaining pond levels would also be important for fire protection.

Yes, the retention ponds are built to control/retain runoff and prevent potential flooding. They have worked well for that during several recent hurricanes that I have experienced here. However, I am well aware that my irrigation water is not potable water yet it comes from somewhere. If irrigation and hydrant water does not come from the ponds, if it does not come from a long pipe to one of the local lakes, and if it does not come from the potable aquifers then where does it come from?

NOTE: The Villages schedule may have more to do with water pressure then pond level. Still, spreading the usage over half a week rather than having everyone water on the same day does give the system a little time to recover.

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.

And then there is…
 

Can the golf courses be watered that have just been seeded?

This time of year I only have one day a week set and turned it off when we get a decent rain.

TV should loosen up their restrictions on rock lawns.

But you will be charged extra for the Water View if you back onto one!