South Florida Water Management District staff has recommended the district governing board move to increase water restrictions at its Dec. 13 meeting.
Recommendations include limiting lawn irrigation to one day a week and setting lower water use goals for agriculture, golf courses and nurseries.
"Caution, preparedness and conservation must be our watchwords as we enter the seven-month dry season," South Florida Water Management District governing board member Eric Buermann said in a news release. "These measures are needed to ensure that our shared resources remain available despite this unprecedented and severe water shortage."
Water restrictions of one type or another have been in place throughout South Florida since late March. The district estimates 11.7 billion gallons of potable water was saved between March 22 and June 30. The savings was determined based on data reported by 46 public water utilities in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Collier, Lee and Miami-Dade counties only.
The proposed restrictions reflect ongoing conditions expected to continue until the rainy season returns in May 2008. In terms of rainfall, the two-year period from November 2005 to October 2007 ranks as the driest on record at the district, dating back to 1932. It received an average of only 85.34 inches of rain during this period, or 82 percent of the historical average.