St. Paul, Minn. — On April 1, 1999, Minnesota’s newly elected governor, Jesse Ventura, sat at his desk and signed, for the first time as governor, an order to veto.
“He was somewhat of a novelty at that point and there was a lot of publicity around the first bill that he vetoed, which happened to be our rain sensor bill,” Tim Malooly recalled. Malooly is chair, government affairs committee, Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association (MNLA), and owner, Irrigation By Design, Plymouth, Minn.
“Governor Ventura vetoed it because he felt it was an intrusion on the rights and the decision making of the individual,” Malooly added. “We don’t argue that point, but on the other hand, we also see a lot of water waste in the form of unnecessary watering during times of adequate moisture.”
Now, five years later, MNLA has once again proposed a bill that would make rain shut-off devices mandatory on all new irrigation systems installed in the state. This time, Malooly is confident the bill will become law by the end of April when the current legislative session in Minnesota concludes. “We expect it to pass in the House and Senate and we expect our current governor, Tim Pawlenty, to sign it,” Malooly said. As a member of the state legislature, Pawlenty voted in favor of the original legislation proposed in 1999.
Officially the bill proposes, “All new automatically operated landscape irrigation systems shall have furnished and installed technology that inhibits or interrupts operation of the landscape irrigation system during periods of sufficient moisture. The technology must be adjustable either by the end user or the professional practitioner of landscape irrigation services.”
The legislation, if passed and signed into law, would take effect July 1, 2003.
“This bill is not about limiting consumer choices or dictating business practices,” said Bob Fitch, director, MNLA. “However, our members believe that the great environmental benefit of the bill outweighs concern about government intrusion.”
Laws making rain shut off devices mandatory have been similarly considered in many other states such as Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts and signed into law in some states such as New Jersey and Florida.
“The idea of installing these technologies and enforcing them to be a part of the appliance, as opposed to an option, seems to be gaining some momentum around the country,” Malooly said.