Water Conservation in North Liberty
The North Liberty City Council is considering an Ordinance to regulate the use of water on lawns and sod. In anticipation of future water conservation enforcement, residents and business owners are asked to follow this watering schedule to help preserve North Liberty’s water supply for future generations.

If your residence or business is located at an odd-numbered street address, please limit your lawn and landscape watering to odd calendar days. If you are located at an even-numbered address, please only water on even-numbered calendar days. Please restrict watering to between the hours of 7:00AM and 9:00PM on the allowed days. Individuals with new sod are exempt from this request, but may be required to obtain a sod permit from City Hall. In any case of lawn watering, try to monitor your water usage and limit it to the minimum necessary.

Consider this:
An important decision to make is either to water lawns consistently as needed throughout summer or let lawns go dormant as conditions turn warm and dry. A lush green lawn may be a cultural status symbol, but it doesn't make a lot of economic or environmental sense. A brownish lawn may seem hard to tolerate at first, but imagine the savings on your water bill and in the gas and energy saved from lower yard maintenance. Turf grass can be dormant for up to six weeks with no long term damage and will re-green in 10-14 days when watering or rainfall resumes.

• do not rotate back and forth between watering and not watering
• breaking dormancy actually drains large amounts of food reserves from plants
• you can choose to water only your front lawn (for aesthetics) or only the back (if it is higher traffic)

If you have to water, here are some suggestions:

• avoid midday watering due to evaporation and sun scorching
• water thoroughly so moisture gets down to the depth of the root
• water early in the day when lawns are normally wet from dew
• de-thatch or aerate the lawn to promote water travel to the roots
• avoid watering at night due to potential increased chance of disease
• avoid frequent watering, which promotes shallower root systems & weeds
• measure the water applied to prevent over-watering and the wasting of water

Remember, all forms of water conservation help protect our resources for the future and save you money on your monthly water bill!

For some all-purpose conservation tips from the Environmental Protection Agency, click here.