Water Conservation, What Can I Do?

It is well known that there is only a small amount of fresh water available on the planet and only some of it is safe to drink. This is one of the driest areas of the country and our annual rainfall is not guaranteed. It’s summer and it’s hot and windy, meaning plants and people dehydrate quickly. We need to stop listening to people who say there is plenty of water for the next 100 years and at the same time put the brakes on future development until we figure out how to make sure we really have the water available. Wells are going dry in some places and the water table is dropping everywhere. So, what can we do?

 Water conservation is a term that seems to be thrown around a lot without any real explanation of what it involves. Everyone has some idea or interpretation of the term, so let’s throw a few ideas out there:

 ·       Wash your car at a car wash, which uses much less water than doing it in your driveway

·       Turn the water off while brushing your teeth

·       If it’s yellow, then it’s mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down

·       Shorter showers; fewer showers; group showers

·       Water your landscaping with drip irrigation (well designed, maintained, and adjusted regularly)

·       Eliminate water-sucking turf grass lawns and replace them with drought-tolerant ground covers or buffalograss

·       Concentrate on the use of native or drought-tolerant trees and shrubs in your landscape

·       Fix leaks!

·       Stop washing your driveway

·       And so on . . .

 There are many more ideas and methods, but one of my personal favorites is this: if you have a small amount of land, even as little as a quarter acre, build a small detention swale to slow the runoff and allow some water to soak in and help to recharge the groundwater. Here is a photo of one we recently built in one of the local developments.

Upper and Lower Catchment Areas On The Same Property

The process is simple with a small excavator or skidsteer machine. The bottom can be covered with weed control fabric to reduce the volunteers that show up any time we disturb the ground, or you can plan for this feature to be part of your landscaping or food forest. What is a food forest you ask? That’s a great topic for one of the next blogs!

 The point here is, we can all do our part within the boundaries of our own properties. We can spread our influence a little by encouraging our neighbors to do similar things in their yards. Most importantly, we can vote according to our beliefs in the science behind the current water situation and where it is headed in the future (as always, follow the money).

 We’ll Have a Swale Time Together Someday!

The Horticoach