Lawn and Garden Watering Regulations: Conservation Through a Water Use Index

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Abstract
In communities where water shortages occur, lawn and garden watering can be one of the first uses of water to be reduced or prohibited. The challenge for a water manager faced with this circumstance is to communicate those regulations to the users. One communication technique is a ’water use index’, designed to show changing water supply capacity in relation to water shortage regulations. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a water use index in regulating public use of water.A case study was selected for analysis, that of a water use index employed by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario. Over one thousand households (stratified and randomly selected) were solicited through a telephone questionnaire and the responses were analysed with non-parametric statistics. The criteria used for the evaluation were: diffusion, saliency, clarity, validity and behavioral change.The results of the study indicate that (1) the dispersal medium for water conservation information must be comprehensive, (2) the saliency and clarity of a water use index are high when a diagram is used, and (3) an index alone is unable to act as an enforcer of regulations or as a modifier of behavior. Improvements have been suggested for more effectively communicating lawn and garden watering regulations to the public.

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