Florida Waterwise Landscapes - Alliance for Water Efficiency
Florida Waterwise Landscapes - Alliance for Water Efficiency
Florida Waterwise Landscapes - Alliance for Water Efficiency
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What Is <strong><strong>Water</strong>wise</strong> Landscaping?<br />
<strong><strong>Water</strong>wise</strong> is a common sense way to landscape<br />
that conserves water and protects the environment.<br />
The main objective of waterwise landscaping is to<br />
establish and maintain a healthy landscape by<br />
matching the right plants with existing site conditions<br />
so that the use of additional resources, such as water,<br />
fertilizer, pesticides and labor, is minimized. In<br />
addition to helping conserve water resources,<br />
waterwise landscaping practices reduce the amount of<br />
pollutants reaching water bodies because fewer yard<br />
chemicals are used. Fertilizers and pesticides can<br />
contaminate water bodies when they are washed out of<br />
the yard with the rain, in stormwater runoff.<br />
The best time to establish a drought-tolerant<br />
water-conserving landscape <strong>for</strong> your home or<br />
commercial property is long be<strong>for</strong>e a drought. Once<br />
established, the right plant in the right place will be<br />
highly self-sufficient, needing little help to survive<br />
nature’s extremes. Healthy, well-placed plants with<br />
deep, established root systems will need less help to<br />
survive a drought.<br />
Conserving our water supply and reducing<br />
water pollution have become important issues in<br />
our growing communities. Despite <strong>Florida</strong>’s humid<br />
climate and abundant surface water bodies, water<br />
shortages do occur here. Demand can overtake<br />
supply, and regional droughts <strong>for</strong>ce Floridians to<br />
practice water conservation as a way of life.<br />
In many <strong>Florida</strong> households, as much as half of<br />
household water is used outdoors, mostly <strong>for</strong> lawn<br />
and garden irrigation. Ninety percent of all public<br />
water supply in <strong>Florida</strong> comes from underground<br />
sources, primarily the <strong>Florida</strong>n aquifer. The aquifer’s<br />
resources are limited. Each day we pump billions of<br />
gallons of water from the <strong>Florida</strong>n aquifer, but the<br />
rate at which the groundwater system refills, or<br />
recharges, from rain is far less. On average, <strong>Florida</strong><br />
receives 54 inches of rainfall yearly.<br />
Taking too much water out of the aquifers,<br />
known as overpumping, threatens potable water<br />
3<br />
supplies, but it also increases the occurrence of<br />
sinkhole <strong>for</strong>mations. Because the aquifer system is<br />
connected to surface water bodies in some areas,<br />
overpumping the aquifers causes lowered water<br />
levels — or drawdowns — of our vital wetlands<br />
and lakes.<br />
Inches<br />
44<br />
48<br />
52<br />
56<br />
60<br />
64<br />
Average Annual Rainfall<br />
1961—1990<br />
1961–1990<br />
Likewise, fresh groundwater sources can be<br />
threatened by saltwater intrusion. Saltwater<br />
intrusion occurs when too much freshwater is<br />
pumped from an aquifer, allowing salt water to<br />
move into voids in the aquifer from the ocean or<br />
the Gulf of Mexico; ancient brackish seawater<br />
below the freshwater level of the aquifer can also<br />
move into these voids.<br />
<strong>Florida</strong>’s water management districts have<br />
declared water resource caution areas throughout<br />
the state in areas where overpumping or saltwater<br />
intrusion has occurred. A water resource caution area<br />
is an area where the current source of public water<br />
supply is not adequate or may not be adequate to<br />
meet public water supply demands in 20 years.