July 9, 2020

Water conservation is more than a passing thought for us at the St. Johns River Water Management District, it’s a daily commitment. We prioritize water conservation year-round as a part of our water supply core mission.

Water conservation is also something we work to encourage through our educational programs, watering rules, Consumptive Use Permitting program, and our cost-share program that helps fund projects designed to improve water efficiencies in our local communities.

Our staff promotes water conservation each day by:

• Engaging with state and local governments by providing technical assistance, data, comprehensive plan reviews, and examples for local watering ordinances and rate structures.
• Promoting and quantifying, through our water supply planning work, water conservation practices as part of the planning process, working with utilities, agriculture and other water management districts.
• Providing funding through our cost-share programs to local governments, utilities and the agricultural community to help support projects to increase water efficiencies.
• Operating our Consumptive Use Permitting program to balance the needs of our growing population with preserving the sanctity of our underground water supplies, natural springs, rivers, lakes and streams. Our reviewers ensure that applicants employ water conservation methods and reclaimed water instead of higher-quality groundwater when appropriate. Our permitting process also limits the amount of water that can be withdrawn from the source in question.
• Offering a comprehensive outreach and educational program, which this year includes our #WaterLess outdoor water conservation campaign, in addition to ongoing presentations to adults, direct engagement with students and teachers through our Blue School Grant Program, as well as the statewide Florida Water Star program, developed by our District. The latest challenges of remote work and social distancing haven’t slowed this work down at all, as we continue to offer helpful video tips for saving water through our social channels and webpages, plus host regular webinars on related subjects. Register for an upcoming session or view our archived programs at sjrwmd.com/education.

Our annual water use surveys have indicated some positive trends during the past few years, thanks to water conservation and the increasing use of reclaimed water. We are eager to report continued progress as we prepare to share new districtwide survey results this month. Thank you to everyone who is doing their part to help us protect our precious water resources. Learn more at WaterLessFlorida.com.