Miami-Dade County's Water Conservation Program received five awards from the American Water Works Association's Florida chapter in December, earning kudos for its Every Drop Counts kids poster contest, rebate and incentive programs and for the development of its standards manual. Come along and find out how to use less!

Want to find an easy way to capture rainwater that can be used to water lawns, thus conserving tap water? Attend the next Rain Barrel Lecture & Workshop from 10 a.m. to noon Mar. 27 at Bill Sadowski Park in south Miami-Dade. The cost is $45 for the rain barrel and $10 for just the workshop. The deadline to register is Mar. 24.

All landscaping that is part of new construction must now meet regulations that follow Florida Friendly Principles and abide by stricter water-efficiency guidelines for all private property and public rights-of-way. Miami-Dade County commissioners adopted the changes in May 2009.

The average person in Miami-Dade uses 158 gallons of water a day. Almost half of that total is used outside the home, often wastefully, to maintain landscapes.

Developing efficient practices and using water wisely to enhance our life can help our community avoid, or at least lessen, the likelihood of future water shortages.

With the 2006 adoption of the Miami-Dade Water Use Efficiency Plan by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, educating our residents on how to use water more efficiently will help preserve these resources for future generations and will reduce future water and wastewater infrastructure costs. Join us in our commitment to the protection of our most precious natural resource.

Miami-Dade County is a participant of the Florida Department of Environmental Resources’ Conserve Florida Initiative and is a partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense Program.