Consultant: Ranch watering requires significant changes

LAKEWOOD RANCH — A consultant hired to analyze Lakewood Ranch’s irrigation system has concluded the community may need at least $1.7 million in improvements to adequately serve the community’s needs.

LPA Group’s Azad Shah, the consultant hired to investigate Lakewood Ranch’s irrigation water-pressure problems in 2009, last month presented his findings, including the community’s need for improved infrastructure and twice-per-week watering.

Shah’s research suggests Lakewood Ranch residents, in general, are not complying with a once-per-week watering schedule, as imposed by provider, Braden River Utilities. But, Shah said, even if homeowners were completely compliant, they would not get sufficient volumes of water for keeping their yard in good health.

“The most significant finding is that if you do nothing and you become schedule compliant, you will have the pressure you are looking for, but you will not have sufficient water,” Shah said. “Even with the new irrigation schedule coming out (from Braden River Utilities) does not give you enough (watering) hours.

“To fix the volume and pressure problems under the new schedule, you’d have to go to twice per week for sufficient irrigation,” he said. “The improvements give you the pressure. The schedule gives you the duration.”

Shah said most Ranch yards need about five to 10 hours of watering per week, although they are limited to between two and four-and-one-half hours weekly.

Shah’s recommendations include a potential for about $1.7 million in a first phase of improvements, which would loop pipes to improve pressure overall. If Lakewood Ranch Community Development Districts invest another $1.8 million for improvements, the districts can move to a completely randomized watering schedule, Shah said.

“All of this information needs to go back to the individual district boards and the IDA for discussion,” Town Hall’s Director of Operations Ryan Heise said. “It also means we need to continue dialogue with Braden River Utilities about going to a twice a week schedule, and we will continue working on that.”

Shah’s presentation completed the fourth phase of his study to understand Lakewood’s irrigation system. His analysis last year revealed double-billing errors that saved Lakewood Ranch’s CDDs a total of about $90,000.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].