Tampa marks Water Conservation Month, city officials report major savings and outreach

Tampa City Council recognized Water Conservation Month and heard presentations from the city’s Water Department describing outreach, rebates and coordination with regional partners.

Councilman Charlie Miranda led the ceremonial recognition and introduced Rory Jones, head of the Water Department, who described the department’s conservation work and said a one-day-per-week watering restriction and other programs helped the city save “over 2,000,000,000 gallons of water last year.” Julia Polaschak and other members of the department’s conservation team outlined education and multifamily retrofit work done in partnership with Tampa Bay Waterwise and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Polaschak said the department will host numerous outreach events across the city during the month and highlighted one-on-one irrigation evaluations and rebates for multifamily retrofits. She said neighborhoods with low per-household monthly water use exemplify the program’s goals and singled out neighborhood- and customer-level efforts as central to the results.

Council members praised department staff for outreach and encouraged tours of water facilities to raise public awareness of treatment and reuse work. Jones and others also noted the city’s reservoir capacity and groundwater recharge wells as pieces of Tampa’s broader water management strategy.

Councilman Miranda thanked the department for its work and called water “an asset” that citizens should understand; staff said they will continue public engagement and conservation events throughout the year.