Case Study: Using the State Florida-Friendly Landscaping Survey to Estimate Water Savings

The goals of extension education are to increase knowledge, inspire behavior change and ultimately show program impacts to make the world a better place. Extension agents who provide education about water conservation strategies and sustainable landscape practices have the opportunity to utilize the Florida-Friendly LandscapingTM (FFL) behavior change survey. This can be used as a sole data collection source or supplemental to surveys agents already send out. The state FFL office provides a comprehensive survey to track behavior change related to water conservation practices. Extension agents from all over the state are encouraged to share their educational contacts with the state office. Once a year, the state office sends a survey to the contacts received from all counties. The survey asks questions including: “Did you reduce watering in the summer?”, “Did you reduce watering in the winter?”, “Did you calibrate your irrigation system to deliver 1/2” to 3/4” instead of 1” or more?” To better understand how agents can use these survey results, we examine one case study using data from Orange County. In 2022, an extension agent participated in educational events and submitted class participant emails (n = 1858) to the state office. The results were collected and converted to water savings metrics using formulas based on accepted assumptions. Based on client self-reported follow-up surveys from Orange County (n = 226), the annual water savings due to adoption of FFL practices was approximately 5.5 million gallons. This is enough water to supply 63 households with water per year, water bill savings valued at $23,800, and utilities water delivery savings of $14,300. It remains imperative to document effectiveness of water conservation programs which help to protect Florida’s water resources. The state FFL survey is an effective tool available for use by extension agents, faculty, specialists, and staff to quantify water savings and report measurable impacts.