Cape Coral residents adapting to new watering restrictions

Tighter watering restrictions are now in place in Cape Coral. You can only water your lawn once a week. The hope is this change will help the freshwater canals fill back up.

Jean Bobis is one of the lucky ones. She has green grass in front of her Cape Coral home, an unusual sight this dry season, leading to an unusual watering schedule of once a week.

Bobis and others who have an address ending in zero are only allowed to water their lawns on Mondays from midnight to 4:00 a.m., that’s it.

“That’s okay. I’ll adjust my timer just to go for Monday,” said Bobis.

The city declared a stage one water shortage and imposed new water rules last week. Bobis wondered about enforcement.

“The watering schedule is like midnight to like early in the morning. So how many people are out there watching us, you know?” said Bobis.

City leaders say they are watching, so expect to see more code enforcement trucks rolling down the street.

Ivan Izquierdo said he is not worried. His sprinkler system is broken.

“We got the pool in, and I didn’t know it destroyed all the plumbing,” said Izquierdo.

Izquierdo is just using his hose, but with no sprinklers, he is desperate for rain.

“It rained the other day, and just everything started going green, so hopefully, it won’t be too long,” Izquierdo said.

“I will abide by the rules for now, and hopefully, the rain will start coming,” said Bobis.

Then the city can go back to the two-day watering schedule.

Canal levels have rebounded in recent days, up more than 250-million gallons, but the city’s not ready to lift its newly imposed water rules.

The watering days and hours depend on the last number of the home address:

• Addresses ending in 0: Monday from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 1: Friday from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 2: Thursday from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 3: Wednesday from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 4: Sunday from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 5: Saturday from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 6: Thursday from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 7: Wednesday from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 8: Sunday 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Addresses ending in 9: Saturday 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.

The following irrigation water use restrictions also take effect at midnight on May 2, 2022:

• For properties or developments up to and including five acres in size that have an irrigation system that simultaneously irrigates multiple properties with different watering times including, but not limited to, duplexes, multi-family units, compound use, and mixed-use units, watering is allowed on Mondays from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• For properties or developments more than five acres in size that have an irrigation system that simultaneously irrigates multiple properties with different watering times including, but not limited to, multi-family, compound use, and mixed-use units, watering is allowed on Mondays from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Watering of new lawns and landscaping during a 45-day establishment period is permitted on any day of the week from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Hand watering is allowed at any time.