Predicting and managing residential potable irrigation using parcel‐level databases

The Conserve Florida Water Clearinghouse has developed Internet‐based software called EZ Guide to assist Florida water utilities in evaluating water use efficiency. This modeling approach estimates single‐family outdoor water use for every parcel using a uniform statewide property appraisers' database to estimate irrigated area for each parcel. Billing data are needed to estimate the irrigation application rates for each parcel, although few utilities have used the available data for this purpose. Analyses using these unique databases for a benchmark utility in Florida provide new insights into the overall impact of single‐family outdoor water use and cost‐effective management options. A key result is that only a small percentage of homes are large irrigators, which makes them candidates for irrigation best management practices. However, this study also shows a dramatic rise in the prevalence of inground sprinkler systems over the past few decades, which has led to increased irrigation application rates.