With this year’s extra dry conditions, the Sanibel Island Water Association wants to make sure everyone on the island has access to clean water.
The group is asking neighbors to save water due not just to the drought, but also to increased redevelopment and landscaping.
Sue Van Oss said she did all new landscaping at St. Michael’s Church after Ian.
“The climate has changed since the storm, and we just need to be more aware and more conscious of conserving water,” Van Oss said.
That’s why she is watching how much water she is using.
“We make sure we follow the irrigation schedule very strictly,” Van Oss said. “When we have a good rainstorm, like we did a couple days ago, we turned off the irrigation. We did have a small leak here at church a couple weeks ago, and we were right on top of it.”
The Sanibel Island Water Association said if you want to water your lawn, you need to follow its schedule.
Watering your lawn is not allowed between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Neighbors with odd-numbered addresses can water on Monday and Thursday.
Even-numbered addresses can use sprinklers on Tuesday and Friday.
Along with the drought, Eric Jackson with the city of Sanibel said redevelopment after the hurricanes and island infrastructure projects have further limited water.
“One of the challenges that we faced here on the island is that with the recovery, there's lots of people that are planning new plants to replace the ones that were lost,” Jackson said. “There are allowances in the code for you to get those plants started and get them healthy."
Van Oss said she’s doing it for those who live next door.
“It is neighbors taking care of neighbors,” Van Oss said. “We all have the same water source, and we need to protect it and conserve it as much as possible.”
Click here for a list of full irrigation regulations.
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