Florida County Passes Water-Saving Landscape Ordinance

According to a recent article in the Orlando Sentinel, on May 20th, Volusia County became one of the first in the state of Florida to pass legislation forcing new homes to have yards with less grass as part of the state's efforts to conserve water.

Whether other Central Florida counties will adopt similar orndinances is uncertain.

The ordinence requires that at least 25 percent of each new yard to be landscaped to need little or no irrigation.

According to the Sentinel, lawn irrigation accounts for at least a third of water used by area homes. Florida homeowners currently maintain more than 3.8 million acres of lawn and about 50,000 acres of grass is planted annually.

The ordinance limits the amount of area allowed for high-volume irrigaton at all new homes and businesses throughout Volusia County.

New landscapes may have 50 percent of those properties receive irrigation, about one inch of water per week. Alternately, homeowners can have more grass - up to 75 percent of the yard -- if the rest of the landscape retains the original, natural vegetation without irrigation. Homeowners can still opt for 100 percent with watering limitations.