Before you turn on that sprinkler, check the time, check the date and check over your shoulder.

The water management districts covering the Treasure Coast are revving up efforts to catch illegal lawn waterers.

But they’re going at it in different ways:

The South Florida Water Management District, which includes Martin and St. Lucie counties, is relying on local governments for enforcement. The St. Johns River Water Management District, which includes Indian River County, plans to hire private contractors.

At a workshop Thursday, officials with the South Florida district, gave a pep talk to local law enforcement officials charged with enforcing watering restrictions. Representatives from the Stuart and Port St. Lucie Police departments, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and the Jupiter Island Public Safety Office attended.

The stepped-up enforcement of the twice-a-week watering restrictions is in response to the driest dry season on record for much of the Treasure Coast. Since the dry season began Nov. 1, Martin and St. Lucie counties have received an average of 6.16 inches of rain, 12 inches less than normal.

“We’re taking this very seriously,” Joe Passanesi, an environmental investigator with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, said as the meeting began. “Sheriff (Robert L.) Crowder feels very strongly about environmental issues.”

The St. Johns River district has $300,000 in its budget for enforcing its regulations. At its May 12 meeting, the district governing board will consider paying a private contractor $202,230 to identify violations of the water restrictions.

The contract would run through the end of September and could be renewed for the next two budget years at a cost of $606,900 per year.

According to figures released by the South Florida district, more than 20,000 warnings and more than 21,000 citations for watering violations were issued throughout the 16-county district in 2007 and 2008. But so far this year, only St. Lucie County and the St. Lucie West Services District have issued citations for water violations on the Treasure Coast. Those agencies, plus Port St. Lucie and Martin County have issued warnings.

But that lax enforcement could be changing.

“We’re looking at this as Day 1,” Capt. Steven Claus of the Port St. Lucie Police Department said. “Not only enforcement, but consistency has to be our main goal. That’s why we’re all here (at the meeting with water district officials Thursday).” Ed Garland, public information officer for the St. Johns River district, said warnings and citations haven’t been issued in order to give residents time to learn about new watering regulations that went into effect March 8.

Garland said a “media blitz” about the new regulations, including ads in newspapers and on TV and billboards, apparently worked, he added because utilities in the district reported drops in water use.

“We also did polls both before and after the media blitz,” Garland said, “and they showed an increase in people’s awareness of the regulations.”

Although noting that drastic times call for drastic measures, officials at the district and local law enforcement agencies say they’ll still emphasize education before handing out citations.

“People usually are very receptive once they know about the restrictions,” Passanesi said. “We haven’t had to go the criminal route on anyone yet.”

That option is there, though. Violations are a second-degree misdemeanor. According to the South Florida district’s Web site, fines for illegal watering vary according to municipality but typically range from $25 to $125 for the first offense.

“We don’t expect you to stand out there with a stopwatch as people water their gardens,” Cynthia Gefvert, the South Florida District’s regional planning supervisor, told law enforcement officers. “Focus on the big users. Focus on the days and times they’re not supposed to be watering.”

In the St. Johns district, model ordinances adopted by some municipalities call for a written warning for the first violation, a $50 fine for the second and fines up to $500 for subsequent violations, with each day in non-compliance seen as a separate violation.

It could be worse: On Thursday, the South Florida district imposed one-day-a-week landscape irrigation restrictions in South Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

BOOK ’EM, DANO

Actions by government entities to enforce lawn watering regulations:

2009 (to May 1)

Martin County: 0 citations, 8 warnings

Stuart: 0 citations, 0 warnings

Jupiter Island: 0 citations, 0 warnings

Sewall’s Point: 0 citations, 0 warnings

St. Lucie County: 15 citations, 48 warnings

Port St. Lucie: 0 citations, 19 warnings

Fort Pierce: 0 citations, 0 warnings

St. Lucie West Services District: 25 citations, 87 warnings

2008

Martin County: 10 citations, 78 warnings

Stuart: 3 citations, 0 warnings

Jupiter Island: 2 citations, 41 warnings

Sewall’s Point: 1 citation, 98 warnings

St. Lucie County: 68 citations, 106 warnings

St. Lucie West Services District: 5 citations, 0 warnings

Port St. Lucie: 15 citations, 51 warnings

Fort Pierce: 34 citations, 10 warnings

Source: South Florida Water Management District

WHEN WILL WE WATER?

Here are the landscape irrigation regulations for Martin and St. Lucie counties:

Odd-number addresses: Wednesdays and Saturdays

Even-number addresses and residences with no street address: Thursdays and Sundays

Notes:

• No watering is allowed between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Rules apply to all water sources — utilities, private wells, lakes, canals and ponds

For detailed regulations, go to sfwmd.gov or call (800) 662-8876

WHEN WILL WE WATER?

Here are the landscape irrigation regulations for Indian River County:

Odd-number addresses and residences with no street addresses: Wednesdays and Saturdays

Even-number addresses: Thursdays and Sundays

Non-residential addresses: Tuesdays

Notes:

• No watering is allowed between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Rules apply to all water sources — utilities, private wells, lakes, canals and ponds

• The twice-a-week restrictions apply during Easter Daylight Time; watering is allowed once a week during Eastern Standard Time

For detailed regulations, go to sjrwmd.com or call (800) 232-0904.
By Tyler Treadway, TCPalm.com

Tags: citations, drought, education, fines, Florida, lawn, ordinance, police, restrictions, violations, violators, water

This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 9:04 am and is filed under Indian River County, Martin County, St. Lucie County, Weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.