Audubon Florida was happy to see the May 13 article South Florida cuts water use by 20 percent, on the success of South Florida’s water-conservation methods. Our region has made progress. But if South Floridians want water security in the future, more must be done through meaningful water conservation.
Does it make sense to build a multimillion dollar treatment plant or just ask residents to save water? Cooper City asked this question a few years ago and decided that water conservation was the answer. Today, the city has doubled its water conservation goal and saved $12 million in the process.As the South Florida Water Management District updates the long-term water plan, conservation needs to be a top priority. Every county in our region should limit landscape irrigation to at least two days a week like Miami-Dade and Broward counties. South Floridians each use an average of 140 gallons a day, and up to half of that amount is for outdoor irrigation. Local and state agencies should implement better leak detection programs so utilities, as they have reported, do not lose tens of millions of gallons of water. And, as one of the largest consumers of water — with an estimated demand of 604 million gallons a day — agricultural businesses in our region need to work to find better ways to conserve water, especially during droughts.Conserving water today is securing water for tomorrow.Jane Graham, Everglades policy associate, Audubon Florida, MiamiRead more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/21/2810694/the-goal-more-water-conservation.html#storylink=cpy