Martin County Board Passes Landscape Watering Ordinance to Protect Water Resources

STUART, Fla (June 15, 2022) – More than 50 percent of the water used by South Florida residents in urban settings is for landscape irrigation. To protect our water resources and ecosystems for future generations, the Martin County Board of County Commissioners passed a new landscape watering ordinance joining other counties and municipalities in implementing the South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) mandatory year-round Landscape Irrigation Conservation measures. Learn more about the county’s ordinance atwww.martin.fl.us/waterwisely.

The South Florida Water Management District’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. With billions of gallons of water used every day, Martin County is working to ensure we do our part.

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. 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

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.