The dry weather conditions are forcing residents and businesses in Flagler County under a water shortage warning. Palm Coast leaders are asking for help to conserve water.

  • St. Johns River Water Management District water shortage warning
  • Conditions are abnormally dry, and there's concern about water levels

Debbie Machin doesn't believe in wasting water, she said every drop counts.

"I think it's a habit to not be wasteful," said Machin, owner of Gingham Buttons 2.

From washing paint brushes to using her dishwasher for card making and scrapbooking materials, Machin said she tries to conserve water at work and home.

"We don't leave the hose running of course and try to be short shower-takers, we're rinsing our dishes off," said Machin.

At least seven counties -- Flagler, Baker, Clay, Lake, Nassau, Marian, Putnam -- are all under the St. John's River Water Management District's water shortage warning because of abnormally dry conditions.

The district said it wants to make sure people "protect the water resources from serious harm and assure equitable distribution of available water resources among all users during times of shortage."

"That's Mother Nature. She's basically shut off the faucet a little bit for this last year. We're about 7.5 inches in our annual rain fall," said Brian Matthews, city environmental compliance manager.

Matthews is reminding people a water conservation policy is in place, including days and times for irrigation are in effect.

Plus, he said residents and businesses should check for leaks and never leave water running.

Matthews said if water comes close to being critically low, the city will always leave enough for essentials, especially in cases of a brush fire.

"That would be our most important thing, that's for drinking water, cooking and firefighting, all other services would have to be strongly considered," said Matthews.

Right now everyone is hoping for the best case scenario.

"We would rather that you conserve voluntarily and therefore alleviate any future mandatory restrictions, and let's all just hope and pray that we had a little bit of rainfall soon," said Matthews.

He added residents who use reclaimed water are free to access their water how they'd like but the district said please don't use well water when in times of shortage.

"I think that everyone should be well-versed in conserving water, especially in Florida. We've been through things that we've needed to conserve our water," said Machin.

The Mayor's Water Challenge in the city begins April 1.

The school district added said it's also doing its part like businesses and residents, with daily water restrictions.

Water conservation tips 

Looking for some ideas to conserve water? Try these tips from St. John's River Water Management District:

  • Bathing. Taking a bath requires up to 70 gallons of water. A five-minute shower uses only 10 to 25 gallons. While you're at it, time your shower to keep it under 5 minutes. You'll save up to 1,000 gallons per month and that totals to $8.50 monthly. Even a step further, by installing a 2.5 gpm showerhead to replace a 5.5 gpm showerhead, a family of four can save 27,000 gallons of water per year. That's a savings of $223!
  • Washing dishes. When washing dishes by hand, use a spray device instead of running the water to rinse. This can save you 6,000 gallons per year, which totals out to $49.50. But even better, run the dishwasher instead of washing by hand. It uses less hot water and could save you $40 a year.
  • Check for leaks. At 1 drip per second, a faucet can leak 3,000 gallons per year. The amount of water leaked from U.S. homes could exceed more than 1 trillion gallons per year. That equals the annual water use of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami combined. To check for leaks, read your water meter before and after a 1-hour period when no water is being used. (Remember to wait for the ice maker to refill and for the regeneration of water softeners.) If the readings are different after the hour, you have a leak. Also, monitor your bill for unusually high use.
  • Check your toilets. A running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water per day. Also, installing a low-flow toilet can save you as much as 9,855 gallons of water per year; that's $81.30.
  • Reduce energy consumption. It takes water to make energy! By reducing energy use by just 10 percent, you could save 600 gallons of a water a year and $150 in energy bills!
  • Turn it off. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth, wash your face, shave, wash dishes or clean house. The average faucet flows at a rate of 2 gallons per minute. You can save up to four gallons of water a day by turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth.
  • Washing clothes. For washing machines with variable settings for water volume, select the minimum amount required per load. Otherwise wash only full loads. Also keep in mind that newer clothes washers use an average of 18 gallons of water per load. Older and non-water efficient washing machines can use as much as 40 gallons of water per load. That's a waste of 12 gallons per load and $26 per year.
  • Landscaping. Select native-Florida trees and shrubs that need less watering when landscaping.
  • Pools. Covering your spa or pool can prevent it from losing water to evaporation. You can save as much as 12,000 gallons of water per year, that's $99!
  • Food preparation. When rinsing vegetables, use a filled pan instead of letting the water run. By doing this you can save 2,400 gallons of water per year. That's $19.80!
  • Water a plant. Never put water down the drain when there may be another use for it, such as watering a plant or cleaning.
  • Limit flushes. Don't use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket. Every time you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue or other small bit of trash, five to seven gallons of water is wasted.
  • Car washing. If you use a bucket to wash your car, you can save 150 gallons of water every time you don't use the hose.