The South Florida Water Management District and Lee County last week announced plans for a “water conservation campaign,” the latest in a host of state efforts to promote conservation.
The SFWMD is headquartered in Palm Beach, but has several field offices around the state, including one in Orlando, only minutes from the newly minted Yankee Lake water withdrawal facility. The facility has been a point of contention for several area environmental groups who say that the project will disrupt the ecology of the already-suffering St. Johns River and that the water withdrawn will only be used for home irrigation purposes.
Though this latest attempt to draw attention to water conservation practices is a novel one, it seems unlikely to lead to any real change.
According to a press release, the project involves displaying three SFWMD-designed public service announcements on a rotating basis on an LCD screen inside of Southwest Florida International Airport: “The announcements encourage travelers to conserve water by taking simple steps, such as reusing hotel towels or turning off the faucet while brushing their teeth.”
Here are the ads:
According to the press release, the airport ranks as one of the country’s 50 busiest and saw more than 7.4 million passengers in 2009. The message of water conservation is no doubt an important one, but will weary travelers stop and take heed of the conservation message or pass by while scrambling to catch a flight?
From the press release:
Water conservation is essential year-round for addressing regional weather extremes and growing demands on a limited water supply that South Florida’s 7.5 million residents, economy and unique environment all depend on.
The SFWMD Governing Board approved the District’s Comprehensive Water Conservation Program in September 2008 to encourage more responsible use of water resources throughout South Florida. Numerous stakeholders worked with the District to define specific regulatory, voluntary and incentive-based programs and in-depth education and marketing plans that will help foster a year-round conservation ethic.
