Stateside Struggles

Politics is becoming even more local, as growers, garden center retailers and landscapers band together to have a voice in water-use issues in the Southeast. While our industry has always invested in advocacy at the national level by supporting American Nursery & Landscape Association, growers who serve markets facing outdoor watering bans are under the most pressure at the state and municipal levels. When homeowners can’t water, they don’t buy plants or install landscapes. Sales dry up.

Much can be learned from Florida, the state I believe has the strongest green industry advocacy organization – Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association (FNGLA). For decades, its leaders have had a strong presence in the statehouse in Tallahassee and at the county level through regional chapters. Access to and protecting fresh water has always been a big issue in Florida. Farmers compete with developers and tourism for resources. Protecting the Everglades and reservoirs from fertilizer runoff is another top concern.

FNGLA’s President Dave Self of Wyld West Annuals shared the association’s strategies during a panel discussion at the Southeast Greenhouse Conference on drought. FNGLA worked with the South Florida Water Management District to coordinate a water/irrigation use plan during the 2001 and 2007 droughts. The plan restricted watering to specific days and times instead of a complete ban. FNGLA also played a major role in the district’s stakeholder advisory group, the Water Conservation Summit, to develop a comprehensive, year-round water use plan.

The association also instituted a statewide nursery best management practices (BMP) program for irrigation and tied it to water use permits. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was an active partner developing the BMP manual highlighting water conservation practices that maximize irrigation efficiencies. Other initiatives include Florida Friendly Plants and landscape and irrigation standards to create a baseline model for local irrigation ordinances.

FNGLA has partnered with the University of Florida to educate its members through regional seminars and the public at large through a state-wide marketing campaign,”Grow Smart!” FNGLA also produced five 30-second television spots telling consumers how to maintain plants through drought, using Mother Nature as a recognizable character. Local garden centers distributed 25,000 flyers. “Our plan is to change the social behavior through education with conservation as our main theme,” Self says.

Most state organizations rely on passionate volunteer leaders, who also have their own businesses to run. If just a few people are leading the charge, they will burn out and efforts will not be sustainable. There also is a tendency to lose interest in water issues during the wet years. State green industry organizations need to invest in both government and public relations over the long term.

Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina are all following Florida’s lead and learning from each other’s struggles and successes. They along with the 11-state Southern Nursery Association are also working with Bruce Adams, former conservation officer for the South Florida Water Management District, to help them shape policies for water regulations. Adams now directs water management for EMC Engineers, Inc.

“Water shortage is a community or region’s inability to cope with drought,” he says. “Restrictions are a community’s answer to poor planning.”

I’m pleased to see the industry come together to work on solutions.