Recently the Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology (CLCE)
released an information package including some of the best IFAS expertise on water-use
in a drought context. With municipalities and water management districts in
Central and Southwest Florida declaring Phase III water restrictions, this is timely
insight to have on hand. Prior to the info release Center Director Dr. Michael Dukes granted IrriGator a brief interview to discuss the CLCE’s role in drought
and easy ways to address water-waste in your irrigation system.
Even with rain, lawns are dry. A #UF_IFAS expert offers advice for treating your parched lawn properly: https://t.co/HayhjvvJ6r @IrriGatorUF pic.twitter.com/qQldhSjjdZ— UF IFAS Solutions (@UF_IFAS) May 28, 2017
What does CLCE hope to achieve with the release of all this
drought relevant information/insight?
MD: We’re really trying to promoting awareness of the
drought. It has been ten years since we’ve had a drought here this widespread.
There have been many pockets of dryness (South Florida for example) in between.
But really to promote awareness and get people thinking about that our water
resources are limited.
What role do you feel IFAS and CLCE can play in this kind of
context?
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| U.S. Drought Monitor stats for FL as of late May. (via USDM) |
MD: Our role right now is the awareness part. What can you
do about it. And if you’re faced with drought what are some of your options.
But I think the building of the awareness part is one of the most important
parts because every day when we’re not in a drought we’re conducting research
and education on best practices, use of smart irrigation technologies,
efficient irrigation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping – we’re doing all those
things year round. If you do implement these things you’ll be better prepared
for a drought.
This season I know many of the water management districts
have stepped up their messaging about drought. Are there opportunities for
collaboration with these entities?
MD: Short answer is I think so. The longer answer is there
is not a formal mechanism for it. We don’t have a regular meeting with all five
water management districts. However, we do have informal relationships and once
we get our drought information package together St. Johns River Water Management District has asked us for it. We’ll help them by providing the best
science that we have.
“If we don’t conserve water now, we will get into an emergency situation where we don’t have the supply we need." https://t.co/1YcTAwNuDG— UF/IFAS IrriGator (@IrriGatorUF) May 25, 2017
What are some easy, fast ways to implement best practices to
reduce water use in a drought context?
MD: Well, the irony of a drought is you need to water. It’s
not the best time to cut your water back. If you have a maintained landscape
you’re going to be watering it right now, probably quite a bit. But the
practices, the research and education that we conduct all will set you up
better for a drought. But it’s stuff you have to do before you get there.
Putting in a smart controller right now is probably not going to save any water
unless you’re ridiculously overwatering. But from the utility data that we’ve
seen people tend to underwater a little bit during this time of year. So people
are probably struggling to put enough water on to maintain an aesthetic value
of their landscape. The need of the landscapes are very high right now.
The low hanging fruit from an irrigation standpoint, drought
or not: adjust the throw on your
sprinklers so you’re not watering the road, fix breaks, and check for other
obvious issues like clogged heads. The more advanced stuff like smart
controllers, they may not save you water right now, certainly rain sensors
won’t since it’s not raining. But these things will save you water once we do
get to that rainy season.
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