MANASOTA & PEACE RIVER BBDs Meeting Notebook 10-21-09.docx

P268
Public Education
FY2010 Media Messaging
Winter media buy plan 10/30/09
Winter media buy 1/4/10
Winter media buy final report 4/30/10
Pilot Irrigation Project
Finish focus group research 9/30/07 9/30/07
Take test meter readings of pilot neighborhoods 9/30/07 10/24/07
Finish survey research 2/28/08 5/1/08 6/9/08
Develop pilot project plans 5/31/08 9/30/08 10/6/08
Begin pilot project in designated neighborhoods 7/1/08 12/1/08 12/1/08
Take meter read #1 7/31/08 12/30/08 12/30/08
Take meter read #2 8/31/08 1/31/09 2/9/09
Take meter read #3 9/30/08 3/20/09 4/10/09
Evaluate pilot program based on meter readings 10/15/08 10/15/09
Begin phase two with needed revisions 1/1/09 7/1/09 7/1/09
Take meter read #1 1/31/09 7/31/09 7/31/09
Take meter read #2 2/28/09 8/31/09 9/15/09
Take meter read #3 3/30/09 9/30/09
Pilot end date 3/31/09 10/30/09
WWIPP
Conduct campaign with pretest 7/31/09 9/30/09
Evaluate program impact with posttest 6/30/10
Final report and fact sheet due 8/31/10
Status As Of: September 18, 2009
Community Education Grants (CEG): The FY2009 Community Education Grant program is now complete. Final reports
and invoices are being received and processed. FY2010 applications, available on the District's web site at
WaterMatters.org/CommunityGrants, were due August 21, 2009. Florida-Friendly Landscaping Education: The District is
currently coordinating with University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to present a series of
workshops designed to help board members and property managers of homeowner associations understand what the
new the SB2080 law means and what resources are available to assist them. Seven workshops are planned for October
with two in Hillsborough County and one each in Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota counties. The
Pasco/Pinellas HOA FYN coordinator, Doris Heitzmann, reports that 14 site visits and seven presentations to138
association board members were made this quarter. The Hillsborough/Polk HOA FYN coordinator, Lisa Strange, reports
that six site visits and nine presentations to a total of 431 association board members were made this quarter. Media
Messaging: (1) The District's FY2010 media messaging campaign is being developed and staff is using the research
conducted in FY2009 to more effectively reach the target audiences. Several draft ads were tested with focus groups in
August by the District's media research consultant to help staff determine which ads to produce for next year's campaign.
An ad was chosen and will be produced in October. (2) Staff is developing its plan for an integrated campaign to include
paid and non-paid promotion of the Skip-A-Week concept. The campaign is set to begin as early as November and will
run through February 2010. Behavior Change Pilots: "Florida-Friendly Irrigating (FFI), It Just Makes Sense" is a pilot
irrigation program asking residents in selected neighborhoods in Sumter, Polk and Charlotte counties to skip a week of
irrigation during the months of December, January and February, and watch the weather and wait to water during July,
August and September, when rainfall can allow residents to turn off their systems for extended periods of time.
Evaluation is being conducted to see if behavior change can be detected by comparing the water use of the education
and control groups during the Skip a Week program months of December, January and February. In addition, campaign
components for the summer portion of the program -- Watch the Weather, Wait to Water--are currently underway.
Program interventions informed residents that yards need only about ¾" of water every three to five days in the summer,
which is often provided by rainfall alone. A letter from the FFI Team was sent as a July utilities bill stuffer to 422 Villages,
4,000 Lakeland and 60,000 Port Charlotte residents. How-to videos started airing on government access channels and
other outlets in mid-June to remind residents that the rainy season is on the way and to check their rain sensors, do a
catch-can test and remember to look for the signs that their yard needs water before running their irrigation systems. The
program's web site, WaterMatters.org/ItJustMakesSense, was updated to reflect the Watch the Weather, Wait to Water
message. As one of the education interventions, residents in the pilot areas were invited to attend a free rain barrel
workshop to be held in their area July 11. Research: (1) The three surveys to determine barriers and benefits associated
with nine specific behaviors related to watershed protection and conservation are complete. The first survey gathered
data related to pet waste, fertilizer use and pesticide use behaviors. The second survey collected data related to raising
the lawnmower height, rerouting the downspout into the landscape and installing a rain sensor. Topics on the final survey
included proper car oil disposal, installing a low-flow showerhead and proper septic system maintenance. (2) The
020 - Peace River Basin 171