Martin County - Tuesday June 15, 2022: The Martin County Board of County Commissioners passed a new landscape watering ordinance that implements the South Florida Water Management District's (SFWMD) mandatory year-round Landscape Irrigation Conservation measures.
The SFWMD’s year-round Landscape Irrigation Conservation measures (Chapter 40E-24, Florida Administrative Code) are designed to ensure the efficient use of landscape irrigation to conserve water resources. They are meant to protect the regions fragile water resources and ecosystems for future generations.
Among the requirements, passage of the ordinance by the Martin County Commissioners means that landscape irrigation and lawn watering are NOT permitted between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. as evaporation is highest during that time period.
The year-round ordinance applies to landscape irrigation within the unincorporated portion of Martin County, which includes Hobe Sound, the portion of Hutchinson Island within Martin County, Jensen Beach, North River Shores, Palm City, Port Salerno and Rio. Residents who reside in local municipalities are encouraged to check with their local authority for any landscape irrigation restrictions.
More than 50 percent of the water used by South Florida residents in urban settings is for landscape irrigation. The required conservation measures have already been adopted by many other counties and municipalities in South Florida.
The ordinance permits landscape watering for existing landscaping as follows:
• ODD number addresses ending in the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, or the letters N-Z are permitted to water on Wednesday and/or Saturdays only
• EVEN number addresses ending in the numbers 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or the letters A-M are permitted to water on Thursday and/or Sundays only
• Installations with irrigation systems that water both even and odd addresses within the same zones such as multi-family units, homeowners' associations, rights-of-way, or other locations with no address, are permitted to water on Thursday and/or Sundays only
Learn about the new ordinance at: www.martin.fl.us/waterwisely.