Although
July is Smart Irrigation Month, southern California is jumping the gun with a
series of strict restriction on outdoor water usage. In Los Angeles, June 1
marks the beginning of mandatory conservation restrictions designed to reduce
city water use by 15%. For those who love their green lawns, these restrictions
mean that their sprinklers can only run Mondays and Thursdays, with enforcement
to be handled by the city’s “drought police.”
But
California is not the only state that’s taking a preemptive stance on water
conservation and irrigation. June 1 also marks the start of new water
restrictions in Durham, NC. Under the new policy, homeowners will be allowed to
water their lawns three days a week based on their address. In addition,
irrigation can only take place before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m., and no one will
be allowed to water on Mondays.
City officials seem determined to encourage all manner of smart irrigation, and
the new regulations require rain sensors or soil moisture sensors for all newly
installed automated irrigation systems, while existing systems must install
sensors by November 30, 2009. Durham’s irrigation schedule applies only to the
new outdoor spray irrigation systems, and so, hand-watering and drip irrigation
systems will not be restricted.
Meanwhile
in San Antonio, city officials anticipate the implementation of even stricter
irrigation regulations. Agricultural and residential irrigation could soon see
“Stage Two” restrictions, which include once a week lawn-watering. Later this
summer, San Antonio residents could even be subjected to “Stage Three”
regulations—which go into effect whenever the local aquifer falls below 640
feet—and that means sprinkler irrigation once every two weeks, and drip
irrigation limited to either 3–8 a.m. or 8–10 p.m. Should “Stage Four”
regulations go into effect, surcharges will also be imposed on users who exceed
12,717 gallons per month.
So
what do you think? Are these kinds of irrigation restrictions an important part
of water resource management? And, more importantly, should these restrictions
be limited to times of extreme drought, or would it make more sense to always
require smart and studied outdoor water use?