Lakewood Ranch to start new irrigation schedule

Starting Jan. 1, the Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority, in cooperation with the homeowners associations, will begin a new watering schedule aimed at improving water pressure for Phase I Lakewood Ranch residents.

The new homeowners’ schedule will coincide with a change in common area watering, which will begin at 10 p.m., instead of the current watering schedule, which begins as early as 4 p.m. on some days.

The desired result is to reduce strain on the water system and allow the system to recover so everyone has adequate pressure. Historically, residents scheduled to water following common-area watering have had poor irrigation pressure for their own lawns.

The homeowners associations  — Greenbrook, Summerfield/Riverwalk and the Country Club/Edgewater village associations — also hope the new schedule will accommodate pedestrians, who previously were getting soaked trying to use the sidewalks.

Operations Director Paul Chetlain said that in the eight years he has worked for the district it’s been a struggle to balance the need to water common area landscaping and those using sidewalks.

“We’ve talked about this for years,” Chetlain said of the changes. “We looked at how we could spread it out and address some long-standing customer complaints, and this was the best solution. (Pedestrians) will have use of the sidewalks until 10 p.m., and hopefully everyone will have better pressure.”

Changes on the residential irrigation schedule will help ensure residents have sufficient pressure to water their own lawns after common area irrigation is finished. The changes impact all 69 neighborhoods within Phase I Lakewood Ranch.

The new plan is a result of a collaboration between operations staff, the Country Club/Edgewater Village Association Irrigation Committee and Braden River Utilities, the irrigation provider for the districts.

IDA Executive Director Anne Ross said the IDA is coordinating with the University of Florida Extension office about holding some educational workshops about the watering changes. One is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 30 at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. The goal is to make sure residents understand the new schedule and how to reset their irrigation controllers to the new days and times, Ross said.

Officials said getting residents to adjust to the schedule will be critical for its success.

Information is available at  lakewoodranchgov.org.

* Editor's note: This story was modified Nov. 29.