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North Carolina Homeowner Irrigation and Water Use Survey

North Carolina Homeowner Irrigation and Water Use Survey. Dr. Barbara Fair NCSU Cooperative Extension. Cooperating Agencies. Funding: NC Legislature appropriation for education, promotion & implementation of water conservation

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North Carolina Homeowner Irrigation and Water Use Survey

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  1. North Carolina Homeowner Irrigation and Water Use Survey Dr. Barbara Fair NCSU Cooperative Extension

  2. Cooperating Agencies • Funding: • NC Legislature appropriation for education, promotion & implementation of water conservation • Grant Administration - NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) • Survey Development: • North Carolina State University • NC Green Industry Council • NC Division of Agricultural Statistics (NCDA&CS and National Agricultural Statistics Service ) • Research/Analysis: • Department of Horticultural Science, NCSU • Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, NCSU • Environmental Finance Center, UNC CH

  3. Telephone Survey • Survey conducted July/August, 2009 • Survey included 6 NC Utilities • Charlotte –Mecklenburg County Utility (CMU) • Fayetteville Power & Water Commission (FAY PWC) • Greenville Utility Commission (GUC) • Hendersonville (HEND) • City of High Point (HP) • Orange County Water & Sewer Authority (OWASA or Chapel Hill) • Total number of respondents: 1,826 (49% response rate)

  4. Survey Response by Utility

  5. Watering Frequency and Lawn Condition

  6. Water Use per community and lawn type

  7. Growing season water use

  8. Seasonal Water Use-“NEVER WATER LANDSCAPE”

  9. Water use for each irrigation system type

  10. Does your community have watering restrictions? QUESTION: Does your community have watering restrictions in place? PERCENT THAT SAID “NO”: • CMU- 94% • FAY PWC- 50% (50% said “Yes” or did not know) • GUC- 97% • HEND- 96% • HP- 93% • OWASA- 68%

  11. Communities with Watering Restrictions • Question: Did you change your water use? • “NO” OUTSIDE INSIDE • CMU 63% 63% • FAY PWC 82% 70% • GUC 81% 72% • HEND 76% 72% • HP 78% 71% • OWASA 59% 47%

  12. RATE these… • RATE EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: 1- strongly disagree; 2-Disagree; 3- Neither agree/disagree; 4-Agree; 5- Strongly agree; 6 Do not know • THE SUPPLY OF WATER IS… • An important economic issue 83% • An important environmental issue 84% • WATERING RESTRICTIONS ARE NEEDED 49-55%

  13. Rate these… % who Agreed or Strongly agreed • IF WATER BILL WENT UP $20/MTH, WOULD REDUCE WATER USE W/OUT RESTRICTIONS… 62% • DURING DROUGHT TRY TO FOLLOW RESTRICTIONS……………………………………………... 95% • MAINTAIN LANDSCAPE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS……………………………………………………… 63% • PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WATER BILL…………. 77% • PREFER UTILITIES CHARGE HIGHER PRICE RATHER THAN EMPLOY RESTRICTIONS……………………… 24%

  14. INFORMATION • Only 19% indicated they had searched for information about water • Of those- 70% got information from internetor newspaper • 18% contacted local extension office/community college • 84% never heard of NCSU TIMS website (Turf Irrigation Management System website) or WATER-WISE WORKS! • Only 13% knew requirement to be licensed irrigation contractor

  15. Summary • 75% of landscape is lawn (in Chapel Hill <50%) • 60% lawns are warm season species • Regular waterers indicated their landscape is important and in ‘fair to good’ condition • 12% had an irrigation system • No system: 5,700 gal/month avg. growing season • System: 13,710 gal/month avg. growing season • Made greater effort to reduce outdoor water use • 63% have had systems inspected • System w/Smart controllers used more water than standard system (with or without rain sensor)

  16. Summary continued… • Watering restrictions did not reduce water use • But most agree they are important tool • Prefer restrictions versus extra $20/month • Most respondents get info from internet • What’s OWASA doing to get reductions of indoor H20 use? • Despite acknowledgement that water is important, DID NOT translate to reductions in use

  17. Thank you! Barbara Fair bfair@ncsu.edu 919-513-2804

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