Water conservation still lags in Jacksonville.
Unlike in Arizona, this wasn’t a dry heat.
The heat is one thing, but the lack of meaningful rainfall is another.
The district likes to blame that low flow on years of drought rather than forcing the big users to conserve.
I do agree, however, that “all hands on deck” are needed to conserve water now.
Earlier this month, JEA said there has been a substantial increase in water usage during the past two years, with a “staggering 8.1 percent increase” over last year.
Most of that, JEA said, is due to irrigating landscaping because of the drought.
That has been the approach for years, and it’s clearly not working.
To save Florida’s water supply and to return health to our springs, rivers and lakes, it’s time to consider tougher medicine for individuals and the big users who are sucking the aquifer dry.
If I sound irritable, blame it on the face gnats and the yellow flies and the long, hot summer ahead.