Watering Restrictions Extended In Tampa Bay Area: SWFWMD

TAMPA BAY, FL — One-day-a-week watering restrictions have been extended until Dec. 31 in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, according to a news release from the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

The SWFWMD board voted Tuesday to extend the restrictions because of ongoing efforts to refill the regional reservoir.

Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Manatee, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties; portions of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake counties; the city of Dunnellon and The Villages in Marion County; and the portion of Gasparilla Island in Lee County will return to the district’s year-round water conservation measures or twice-per-week-watering Sept. 2.

Some local governments, including unincorporated Citrus, Hernando and Sarasota counties, and the cities of Dunedin, Tampa and Venice, have local ordinances that remain on one-day-per-week schedules.

SWFWMD initially authorized its watering restrictions in November 2023. That order, which was initially set to end in February, was extended again in June

At the end of July, the district had a 12-month rainfall deficit of about 5.1 inches, the agency said. Provisional data indicates districtwide rainfall through Aug. 21, which includes Tropical Storm Debby, is above average, which will help reduce the 12-month deficit. However, Tampa Bay Water’s 15.5-billion-gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir is still approximately 7.5 billion gallons below its capacity.

The district also approved a request today from Tampa Bay Water to modify their existing emergency order for the Alafia River to help refill the reservoir. The modified order will temporarily increase the maximum day withdrawal limit from 60 million gallons per day to 75 million gallons per day when additional flow is available above the river’s minimum flow. This order has been extended to March 31.

Under the extended water restriction order, houses with address numbers that end in:

• 0 or 1 should water only on Monday;
• 2 or 3 should water only on Tuesday;
• 4 or 5 should water only on Wednesday;
• 6 or 7 should water only on Thursday;
• 8 or 9 should water only on Friday.

Unless a city or county already has stricter hours in effect, properties that are less than 2 acres may only water before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Meanwhile, properties that are 2 acres or larger may only water before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.

Low-volume watering of plants and shrubs — using micro-irrigation, soaker hoses or hand watering — is allowed any day or time.