5. OUTDOOR LAWN IRRIGATION BYLAW
Overview
Lawns – including residential and commercial lawns and golf courses – are now the single largest irrigated crop in the United States. Studies show that the amount of water used irrigate lawns in the Ipswich River watershed is approximately equal to the river’s summer flow “deficit.” Bylaws and regulations designed to limit the nonessential use of water for outdoor lawn irrigation can help to address this problem.
One common approach is to limit the timing of lawn watering to ensure that water is used efficiently. Communities may restrict outdoor irrigation of lawns and gardens to early mornings and late evenings, when evapotranspiration is lower.
Another approach is to regulate automatic lawn watering systems. These systems are widely used in residential lawns across the Ipswich River watershed. They employ a programmable timer connected to sprinkler heads and underground piping to control lawn sprinklers. They often lead to overwatering and inefficient water use as sprinklers automatically go on at a preset time even during or immediately after heavy rains. An automatic lawn irrigation bylaw allows communities to track the use of these systems by requiring registration and/or fee payment upon installation. A bylaw can also require new and upgraded lawn irrigation systems to be equipped with an approved rain sensor to detect weather conditions. Alternatively, a bylaw may be structured to ban the installation of in-ground irrigation systems in new developments, but communities should recognize that this may drive homeowners to switch to private irrigation wells in the absence of an effective private well bylaw.
Some communities around the country, including Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sarasota County, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada have limited the square footage allowed for turf that consumes large amounts of water. Similar approaches could be considered in the Ipswich River watershed to restrict the area of lawn and landscape that can be irrigated.
Local Examples
Several towns in the Ipswich River watershed, including Hamilton and Middleton, have passed bylaws restricting the hours of outdoor irrigation during the summer months. Middleton’s irrigation/outside water usage bylaw prohibits outside watering of vegetation between the hours of 8 am and 7 pm between May 1 and September 30. Hamilton’s outside irrigation/outside water usage bylaw prohibits outside watering of vegetation between 8 am and 8 pm between May 15 and September 15, and also requires all existing automatic underground irrigation systems, to have soil moisture sensors.
The town of North Andover passed a set of bylaws designed to conserve water in 2001. Along with a water use restriction bylaw, North Andover passed an Automatic Lawn Irrigation System Bylaw that requires all automatic lawn irrigations systems connected to the municipal water system to register with the Division of Public Works and pay a fee set by the Board of Selectmen. Under the bylaw, automatic lawn irrigation systems are also required to include backflow prevention devices, and new irrigation systems are required to be equipped with a rain sensor to prevent watering during or after a rainstorm.
Outside of the watershed, the town of Concord has passed a similar bylaw that more aggressively restricts the use of automatic lawn watering systems. As of May 2005, it places a moratorium on the installation of new or expanded in-ground lawn irrigation systems, and prohibits the construction of a private well to provide water for a new or existing system. For existing lawn watering systems, the bylaw requires registration with the Concord Public Works Water and Sewer Division. It also stipulates that systems must be equipped with a moisture sensor, a backflow prevention device, and a timing device that complies with the town’s time-of-use outdoor watering restrictions.
In the town of Sharon, a zoning bylaw specifies that 50 percent of the coverage of residential lots be maintained as “natural vegetation area,” effectively limiting lawn size. The towns of Sudbury, Bridgewater, and Norton, and the Mashpee Water District, have adopted bylaws or water district policies that prohibit connection of in-ground irrigation systems to municipal water supplies. Effective enforcement of such bylaws will be crucial to their success.
Resources
Concord Moratorium and Restriction on Installation of In-Ground Irrigation Systems (html)
Hamilton Outside Irrigation/Outside Water Usage Bylaw (pdf)
Massachusetts Water Resources Commission, Guide to Lawn and Landscape Water Conservation, 2002 (pdf)
Middleton Irrigation/Outside Watering Bylaws (pdf)
North Andover Automatic Lawn Irrigation System Bylaw (pdf)
(Scroll to Article II, Automatic Lawn Irrigation System, pg 124)
Sarasota County Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (html)
Sharon Zoning Bylaws (On file at IRWA)
Vickers, Amy. New Directions in Lawn and Landscape Water Conservation, Journal of the American Water Works Association, February 2006 (On file at IRWA)
Water Wise Communities: Index
- Introduction & Using the Handbook
- How Development Affects Water (link to IRWA site)
- Checklist: Is Your Community Water Wise?
- Water Wise Tools:
