Reset your irrigation timer when you “fall back” this Sunday

Residents can cut up to 25 percent off their water bills by dialing back on outdoor irrigation this season

PALATKA, Fla., Nov. 3, 2017 — Be sure to reset your sprinkler timer when changing your clocks this weekend to mark the end of daylight saving time. The time change corresponds with the semi-annual shift in watering restrictions ensuring the efficient use of water for landscape irrigation across the St. Johns River Water Management District. The move helps protect our water resources and can save residents money.

Lawn and landscape irrigation often accounts for more than half of residential water use. Plants and grass need much less water in cooler months, which is an excellent opportunity to reduce water use outdoors.

From Nov. 5 through the first weekend in March, landscape irrigation is allowed on one designated day each week, based on your street address, and only before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.

• Saturday for residential landscape irrigation at addresses that end in odd numbers or have no address;
• Sunday for residential landscape irrigation at addresses that end in even numbers; and
• Tuesday for nonresidential landscape irrigation.

The restrictions apply to water withdrawn from ground or surface water, from a private well or pump, or from a public or private water utility.

As a time of dormancy for many plants and grass, winter is an appropriate time to cut back. Because grass and landscape plants only need supplemental irrigation every 10–14 days in the winter, and only if it hasn’t rained, the district also asks property owners to voluntarily water only every other week, or to skip a week, during the region’s coolest weather from December through February.

For more details about watering restrictions, visit www.sjrwmd.com/wateringrestrictions.