Drinking water shortages worry Vero Beach officials

VERO BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The City of Vero Beach is trying to preserve drinking water mid a recent uptick in usage for irrigation.

City officials asked residents to temporarily refrain from using drinking water for irrigation from April 19-22, which they say was a main contributor to the issue.

“I would say it was least a million gallons a day additional water stress on our system, if not more," said Rob Bolton, the city's Water and Sewer Director. "We had larger demands, it stressed the surficial aquifer and therefore, we had to ask the people to refrain from irrigating.”

Bolton says the city’s drinking water storage was four feet beneath it’s normal stored level.

He says the growing population in the area, and a lack of rain for several weeks, also contributed to the low water supply.

“This was actually a wake-up call that we need to pay attention more," Bolton told CBS12 News Tuesday. "We’re having a large amount if growth that’s going to occur, that’s going to stress on these water sources that we have right now.

Local residents say they’re concerned.

“It does freak me out that people are coming in, everybody wants the green lawn, and we have dry seasons,” said Mary Ann Hall. “People coming in need to realize that there’s going to be restrictions.”

This may not be the last time that residents are asked to monitor their irrigation practices.

“Call it a water balance," Bolton remarked. "We need to preserve our drinking water source and stop wasting it on irrigation on grass, and we need to develop other alternative water supplies via reclaimed water and storm water to use for irrigation purposes.”

Bolton said the pause raised the water level by a foot or two.

He also said the pipeline project to John’s Island for irrigation is not in jeopardy, as that project will use water from the main relief canal, rather than drinking water.