Florida leads the south in water efficiency, according to a study examining water use across the United States.
These findings are consistent with the national findings that show increased water efficiency in urban areas while rural areas have become less efficient.
“Florida is the third most populous state in the country and it is largely urban, which accounts for its higher water efficiency compared to other southern states,” said FIU biologist John Kominoski, a co-author of the study.
Adopting water-efficiency technologies and retrofitting existing water infrastructures are big reasons why urban areas have improved, according to the researchers.
Water use efficiency in urban Miami-Dade County has stayed about the same or slightly decreased since 1985.
“It’s difficult to say why Miami-Dade’s water use efficiency decreased,” Kominoski said.
Understanding how people use water is important because climate change is likely to impact its availability, especially as populations also increase, according to the researchers.
The researchers found counties with higher income and education, particularly those throughout the northwest, central, south and southeast U.S., are becoming more water efficient.
Counties with lower income and education, particularly in the northeast, became less water efficient.
“Water is a limited resource that doesn’t renew itself year-to-year.