GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Are you concerned about how your water tastes? Do you want to know how much you use, or whether we’ll have enough water for the next generation? A new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences website links users with UF/IFAS programs on how to preserve and, perhaps improve the quantity and quality of water in Florida.
Click on http://water.ifas.ufl.edu/ and find educational resources provided by UF/IFAS, said Kati Migliaccio, a UF/IFAS professor of agricultural and biological engineering, who’s among the people who created the site.
Automatic sprinklers on green grass.
“I think our greatest achievement is providing a website for Florida resident to quickly access answers to their questions or solve their problems concerning water,” Migliaccio said.
The site is especially valuable these days when you consider the American family uses about 320 gallons of water per day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nationwide, landscape irrigation accounts for an estimated one-third of all residential water use – about 9 billion gallons per day, the EPA says.
The UF/IFAS Extension Water Initiative Team came up with the idea for the website. A subcommittee of the initiative team manages the website.
Enhancing and protecting water quality, quantity and supply is a priority for UF/IFAS and UF/IFAS Extension programming. That’s because water plays a critical role in sustaining Florida’s environment and economic vitality, which are keys to a high quality of life.
Farm sprinklers in potato field.
“Florida must enhance and protect its domestic water supply while also meeting the water requirements of agriculture, horticulture, tourism and industry, as well as the state’s 20 million inhabitants and its natural systems, all without placing undue pressure on a finite resource,” Migliaccio said.
There are so many UF/IFAS programs on water-related topics that it can be difficult to know where to begin, Migliaccio said. By collecting links to this information in one place, we hope to provide that starting point for Florida water users.
While the website recently went live, the team continues to work on it.