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County Water Cops Are Watching You

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: November 8, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Into every life a little rain must fall, the old saying goes, but violators of lawn watering restrictions might be crying soon over fines of from $35 to $500.

Pasco County water cops are gearing up for a crackdown on residents who ignore the county's once-a-week lawn irrigation restrictions.

Only 15 watering citations were issued in October, according to Richard Ortiz, Pasco's code compliance manager. Another 20 or so warnings were issued.

That was before the Southwest Florida Water Management District issued an edict for all 16 counties in its territory to get tough on violations.

Officials of the Brooksville-based regulatory agency called for the crackdown at the behest of Tampa Bay Water. The Clearwater-based regional water supplier is concerned the potable water reserves in its 15-billion-gallon C.W. Bill Young Reservoir, in southern Hillsborough County, could be depleted by May 2009 if drought conditions persist much longer.

Pasco County had already been gearing up for a big push when SWFWMD issued its order late last month, Ortiz said. Enforcement sweeps targeting watering restriction scofflaws could begin again by December, he warned.

Code officers on patrol already adopt a zero-tolerance attitude toward watering violations, Ortiz said. If they see the violation, a ticket will be written.

"We'll be stepping it up," Ortiz said of watering restriction patrols during the dry season.

Most of the 17 county code officers will soon begin rotating on early shifts, late shifts and some weekend duty.

Several Pasco County Utilities Services workers also are trained to back them up on patrols.

The biggest crackdown happened in June 2000, when the county had issued 525 citations with $35 fines.

In May 2007, the county instituted another "zero-tolerance" sweep of 16 neighborhoods, which resulted in more than 125 citations over watering violations in less than a week.

Repeat offenders can be socked with fines as high as $500.

For the past eight years, Pasco County has remained on a weekly schedule for residents to turn on lawn sprinklers or other means to irrigate grass. Other counties and cities in the Tampa Bay region have flirted with twice-a-week lawn watering in recent years before the current crisis.

SWFWMD prescribed other restrictions during the crisis. They include:

•Restricting the time for hand-watering or micro-irrigation for non-lawn landscaping to before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

•Postponing turf-grass renovation, such as replacing lawns, and taking other appropriate steps to avoid an increase in lawn or landscape water use.

•Reducing the 60-day allowance for new plant establishment.

•Reducing the time aesthetic fountains and waterfalls may operate from eight hours to four hours per day.

•Limiting the use of unattended line flushing by water utilities.

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

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