12/14/2013 7:12 AM
Brian,
Here in Florida we all have consumptive use permits that limit us to an average per day usage. The average usage is based on soil type and historical weather. Last summer we got hit with a warning for over pumpage since we were over our permitted daily quantities. We are on about 80% reuse water with the remainder from groundwater wells. They said even though I wasn't pumping the 80% out of the ground, I still had to stay within my permit. The fact is that if I don't use it, it gets sent to a spray field and applied, regardless of quantity. After several hours of meetings, phone calls and letters, they finally agreed that applying the extra reuse water to the golf course was a better idea than dumping it in a hay field and retracted their warning. Their idiotic thinking cost me close to $10k for what ended up being no big deal.
Our residential and commercial lawns have been on permanent restrictions for quite some time now. They are on twice per week this time of the year and once a week in the summer. Always seemed backwards to me.