Sprinkler watering homeowner's lawn | Image Courtesy UF/IFAS
Michael Dukes: Irrigation Standards and Florida Water Supply | Guest Column
August 2, 2024
We can no longer ignore the fact that there is a water supply crisis in Florida. Municipalities, cities and counties across the state are being forced to take drastic actions like instituting moratoriums on development to ensure that they can continue to provide water to their current residents at current costs. The threat of running out of water is no longer just a hypothetical threat. It is a challenge that we are facing now and so our solutions need to be available now.
That is one of the reasons that the new FNGLA irrigation standards are so important. For the past few years. UF/IFAS researchers, FNGLA members and irrigation professionals have worked to develop the new irrigation standards for residential landscapes. The goal of these new standards is to protect water resources across Florida to future water supply.
Based on the best available science, these standards provide a path through these difficult water supply issues by utilizing water more efficiently. These new standards emphasize irrigation efficiency through new technology, good design practices as well as operation and maintenance. Following the standards will reduce inefficient irrigation to maintain lawns and landscapes in the state.
Water management districts are already using the Florida Water StarSM program to help reduce landscape water use and the Florida-Friendly LandscapingTM program lead by UF/IFAS Extension is educating residents on ways they can select a landscape that requires less water to maintain. These new irrigation standards, when combined with these preexisting and successful programs, can maximize the potential conservation impact on water resources. The results will be lower water bills for residents and more water resources for the state.
Some Florida communities have already implemented many of the FNGLA irrigation standards, proving that residents don’t have to sacrifice a beautiful landscape to protect water resources. Developments like Tavistock near Orlando are creating attractive landscapes by using drought-tolerant native plants that don’t require in-ground irrigation. These early adaptors are proving that these new ideas and approaches can work and that it is possible to have a functional and beautiful landscape in Florida that requires little or no irrigation.
These standards showcase how researchers, experts and industry leaders can work together to create recommendations that are both supported by science and practical for industry professionals. By creating these irrigation standards, FNGLA has put the industry in a position to lead the efforts to protect water resources for today and tomorrow.
Michael Dukes, Ph.D., is the director of the UF/IFAS Center for Land Use Efficiency (CLUE), which focuses on social, environmental, and economic issues affecting urban landscapes and agriculture in Florida.
