Water Conservation

South Florida is one of the wettest areas of the country that typically gets about 53 inches of rainfall a year. Even with our abundant annual rainfall, South Florida’s weather can quickly change from deluge to drought. That’s why conserving water year-round is an integral part of managing and protecting South Florida’s water supplies for today and for our future generations.

More than 3 billion gallons of water are used every day in central and southern Florida by 8.7 million residents and millions of visitors – for drinking and bathing, watering our lawns, growing our crops and servicing our industries. Future water needs are projected to increase to 4.3 billion gallons per day by 2025, so the region's traditional freshwater sources may not be enough to inexpensively meet those needs. One of the most effective ways to address this challenge is through water conservation.

Water Conservation Programs

The District’s Comprehensive Water Conservation Program (CWCP) is a combination of voluntary and incentive-based initiatives, regulatory work, and education. As a result of passive measures, such as efficiency improvements in water using appliances, and the implementation of action items from the CWCP, the amount of water used by the region’s 8.7 million residents has fallen from near 180 gallons of water per person per day in 2000, to about 124 gallons in 2020. Programs and initiatives from the CWCP include:

• Promoting appropriate landscaping through the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Services Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program
• Financially supporting local water conservation projects with a Cooperative Funding Program
• Supporting the Florida Water Star^SM program, which is a water conservation certification program for new and existing homes and commercial developments.
• Supporting accreditation of landscape and irrigation professionals interested in water efficient design and installation of landscaping and irrigation systems through the Florida Water Star^SM Program (floridawaterstar.com/professionals.html)
• Implementing the Year-Round Landscape Irrigation Rule that targets outdoor irrigation, which can account for half of the residential water use in South Florida.
• Supporting local governments with water conservation model ordinances

Basic water conservation practices include:

• Watering your lawn based on its actual needs and following the District’s year-round landscape irrigation water conservation measures and/or local ordinances
• Installing water efficient, ENERGY STAR labeled appliances,
• Installing WaterSense labeled high-efficiency water fixtures, such as showerheads, toilets, and kitchen and bathroom faucet aerators.
• Implementing many more easy water conservation practices found in our Water Conservation Publications

HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU USE EACH DAY? COMPUTE YOUR WATER USE

Click here to Compute Your Water Use with our Water Conservation Calculator