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NAPLES — Lawn lovers eager to crank up their irrigation systems after months of drought-induced watering restrictions might want to give it up.

The governing board of the South Florida Water Management District, meeting Thursday in West Palm Beach, voted 7-1 to enact permanent two-day-per-week restrictions in the 16-county district as a way to instill a year-round water conservation ethic and end the on-again, off-again restrictions that have become a seasonal rite in South Florida.

“From my perspective, I think it’s good to get something in place and try it,” governing board Chairman Eric Buermann said.

The rule will undergo a public comment period, and the district board could take a final vote in December. The rule could go into effect as early as February.

Lee County already has a permanent two-day watering rule, but Collier County and the city of Marco dispatched representatives to Thursday’s meeting to oppose the new rule.

Water management districts that include the Tampa-St. Petersburg and Jacksonville areas also are moving to the two-day restrictions as part of a push by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to enact consistent statewide restrictions.

Opponents, though, say South Florida’s climate and soils require more frequent watering and urged a more cautious approach.

“This is too much, too fast,” the district’s longtime water conservation officer Bruce Adams, now a private water management consultant, said.

Adams wrote the three-day-a-week rule that Collier County and the city of Naples have in place when tighter restrictions aren’t imposed.

Moving from the three-day restriction to two-day restriction in April 2007 saved Collier County 15 million gallons of water per day, or almost 25 percent, according to district figures.

Selling less water, though, means the county’s rates have to go up, Collier County Water Director Paul Mattausch said.

Besides that, less watering means the county has to flush their lines more often to maintain disinfection levels, he said.

Marco Island City Manager Steve Thompson urged the district to allow watering three days a week on the island because Marco’s water, which comes from Henderson Creek, would be dumped into the Gulf of Mexico if it wasn’t used for irrigation.

Marco should be rewarded for a $10 million investment in an aquifer storage and recovery system that stores underground more than four times the island’s annual water demand, Thompson said.

The arguments got the most sympathetic ear from governing board member Melissa Meeker, who voted no and urged district officials to stay open to revising the rule for particular circumstances.

The rule includes provisions to allow water users to seek variances from the water management district and to allow local governments to adopt looser rules, subject to district review.

Treated wastewater, or reclaimed water, and water from rain barrels or cisterns can be used for irrigation every day, according to the rule.

All watering would be allowed only before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.