A solution to the Algae problem

South Florida Water Management has come up with a solution for the algae.

Read about it...

No more just blaming Rick Scott.

Save Florida Water

Save our water--

This is a horrific symptom of years of water mismanagement that we are seeing play out in our waterways and oceans throughout South Florida today.

Here is the solution: Buy the land in the EAA. Build the reservoir. Restore the flow of CLEAN freshwater into our Everglades and get it down to a starving Florida Bay, says the Everglades Trust.


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Lake Worth can now irrigate 3 days a week

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Grass no higher than 10 inches or you will be coded

There is good news and there is bad news.  First for the Good--

On a 4/0 vote (Scott Maxwell absent) Resolution No. 03-2013 was passed.

Thanks to our reverse Osmosis Water System, South Florida Water Management has lifted the restrictions on Lake Worth. Last night's Resolution will remove the mandate for Phase III modified water restrictions within the City’s service area. With the issuance of new Water Use Permit (101215-11), Operational Order No. 2010-084-CO-WU, these restrictions were removed by the SFWM. Now we will conform to the same restrictions currently in place throughout the County which is currently set at Phase II.

The Year-Round Landscape Irrigation Rule limits landscape watering to two days a week throughout the South Florida Water Management District, with a three-day-week provision for some counties. In all cases, reclaimed water used for irrigation is exempt.

• Click here for landscape irrigation days and times by county.

3-Day-A-Week Watering Option
(Broward, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties) and now Lake Worth.

The District Year-Round Landscape Irrigation Rule allows a three-day-a-week watering provision available to users who reside in counties located wholly within District boundaries. Users in these counties may water lawns and landscapes on two days or may exercise the option and irrigate a third day.

• Residents and businesses with an odd-numbered street address may water lawns and landscapes on Mondays, Wednesdays and/or Saturdays, only before 10 a.m. OR after 4 p.m.
• Residents and businesses with an even-numbered street address no street address or those that irrigate both even and odd addresses within the same zones, which may include multi-family units and homeowners associations, may water lawns and landscapes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and/or Sundays, only before 10 a.m. OR after 4 p.m.

Bad News--Most residents will not be able to afford to irrigate in Lake Worth more than once a week but those who do, will be cutting their grass more often because of code fines.

Good news--The more affluent will have the resources and their lawns will, once again, become plush and their property values will climb.

Bad news--The poorer neighborhoods will continue to struggle by on once a week with lawns looking brown, dying or taken over by weeds. The Condos have already set their budget for 2013 that only factors in 1 day a week watering.

Lake Worth Irrigation charge

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Even if you do not use one drop of water on irrigation, the City of Lake Worth charges you a minimum charge. My building was charged $64.60 plus $4.34 service charge or a total of $68.93.

I called today to find out about it as my sprinklers have been turned off for at least 9 weeks because of the rain. I am uncertain if this is just a charge for a condo building or if all single family residences get it stuck to them as well.

It might be similar to that $34.50 for electric service whether you use electricity or not.

Conservation is expensive in Lake Worth.

Lake Worth Utility Checks Irrigation Meter

Yesterday 5 Lake Worth utility trucks drove onto our property and all drivers descended from their trucks to take a look at our irrigation meter. The way in which they all swooped in, it reminded me of the night Ramiccio and the Chamber (an organization that says it is NOT political) called SWAT on us for petitioning adjacent to the Cultural Plaza.

The Utility had a work-order to check out the meter because someone thought it was reading low. Don't want to cheat the City, after all it was reported by Burton & Associates, the auditors, that the City is losing $1.2 million over 17 months through potential/probable/definite errors, one of which is faulty meters. It seems that the meter reader had difficulty reading it as the face was covered with some dirt.

When new meters were installed in the city, some of the multipliers were incorrectly entered which resulted in lost revenue. Our meter was put in approximately 5 to 7 years ago.

We irrigate one time a week just like everyone else, other than the City that is. Their sprinklers are going at all sorts of screwy times. We have 5 zones that are on for 12 minutes each, which does not suffice during droughts but we deal with it. I turn off the sprinklers when we have a lot of rain thus our irrigation usage is low during the rainy season.

I am encouraged, however, that the Utility has considered the points brought up in the Audit and has taken direct and immediate action:

• provide the city with accounts that have potential errors

• field tests

• physical inspections

• other on-site investigations to determine if there is a problem.

Now all we have to do is get our billing department straightened out. The new commission already voted down the plan on a 3 to 2 vote to outsource it.

Lake Worth Water Restrictions

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Today is the date for the new water restrictions imposed by the South Florida Water Management District.

"Amid growing fears of shortages, previously selfish cities and counties began working together to plan billion-dollar water-treatment plants. Water-saving measures such as low-flow toilets and lawn-sprinkling bans became the norm. Water police took to midnight patrols in some suburbs." Read the complete article here.

Here in Lake Worth, the City Commission made a prudent decision to have its own Reverse Osmosis System. The South Florida Water Management District has imposed restricted irrigation for the past several years on Lake Worth and Hypoluxo to one time per week. In order to keep our grass looking good in my community, thus keeping up the value of our property to the best of our ability, we are spending a lot more money on bug control, fertilizer plans, weed control and re-sodding when necessary. Click here for Water Restriction Info.

Lake Worth formed a new government department, Energy Conservation, that upon request, will audit your usage and advise the homeowner where to conserve. This is a bureaucracy that was formed to retain jobs and a COSTLY expense in order for some to feel they are doing their part to help the environment. It started out with a $1 million dollar budget, half of which were salaries. Now it is up several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Most all cities in Palm Beach County can water at least 2 times per week. The yards all look greener than do the properties in Lake Worth, a city limited to one time per week. Watering is allowed 3-9 a.m. and 4-9 p.m. on Thursday.

Lake Worth has imposed a new Landscape Ordinance that tells us what we can plant and to ensure that its objective of conservation is complied.

Water restrictions in PB County

Water restrictions begin this Saturday to two days a week for irrigation as this is the driest season in 8 years. It seems like they say that every year. As Lake Worth has been on one day watering for several years now, does that mean we cut back to zero? Anything is possible in LW.