Florida Mobile Irrigation Lab Helps Track Water Use, Offers Solutions

Mobile Irrigation Lab coordinator Jim Nikolich tests the water pressure coming out of a sprinkler head at the home of Diego Manzano in Cape Coral recently. The free service provided by the Lee Soil and Water Conservation District is booked through June. Nikolich found several ways Manzano could save water. Photo by Clint Krause, The News-Press.

One man's advice could have saved Lee County 426.7 million gallons of water — enough to fill 14,233 pools — over the last decade.

Jim Nikolich of NRCS' Fort Myers Service Center heads the Mobile Irrigation Lab, a free government service that provides residents and businesses with a lawn-watering checkup. On request, he'll visit a house or business, measure the yard, test the soil and, among other things, calculate the best way to set a sprinkler system. The idea is to alert homeowners to any problems and help correct them.

Already, year-round lawn watering is restricted in Lee County, limited to no more than three days a week. But even that could be too much for some area yards.

Mobile irrigation labs are being used in high growth areas around the country to help people conserve water. Without conservation, residents face new regulations, more restrictions and increased water costs.

In Lee County, the lab is a joint project of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Lee Soil and Water Conservation District and the South Florida Water Management District. It costs about $56,000 a year to run, with the water management district contributing the most.

Efforts are under way to create a second lab for the growing Cape Coral area.

Lee's lab has visited 1,542 homes and businesses since it started in 1996.

Of those, nearly 100 have asked for a follow-up visit. The lab verified that those property owners heeded his advice and saved Lee County 61 million gallons of water.

Last year, Nikolich visited 177 homes. If all followed his advice, their water savings would be 45.8 million gallons of water.

"Too much water can be just as bad as not enough,'' he explained.

Nikolich is so popular his calendar is booked six months in advance.

Diego Manzano, 40, waited three months for his evaluation.

"This is all new to me,'' he said. The former New Yorker never had a lawn in the Big Apple. "I don't want to waste a lot of water.''

Most people don't, said Nikolich.

Nikolich rolled up to the Santa Barbara Boulevard home in his Dodge minivan, a roving billboard of his services. He took moisture readings, checked the sod's root depth and measured how water is distributed around the yard. He uses unscientific tools like a milk jug and a tube in his search for water savings — one yard at a time.

A computer analyzes the findings and produces recommendations for the homeowner.

"I can pretty much target what their water use will be for the year," said Nikolich, an irrigation expert for more than two decades.

Manzano's sprinklers were shooting water into the screened-in porch. The gas grill was soaked, too. He helped adjust sprinklers so they don't water the house, sidewalk or street.

"That's an easy fix, I'll show you how to change that,'' he said.

Prior to the new Cape restrictions that limit watering to two days a week, Manzano had his sprinkler system set to water Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Nikolich recommended eliminating Tuesday, especially after noting dollar weed — a telltale sign there's too much watering going on.

"That's good to know,'' Manzano said.


Story by Wendy Fullerton, The News-Press.