Your intentional community should put water conservation near the top of your values list (if it’s not already there), no matter if your in Arizona drinking from the thinning Colorado or in Michigan (like me) lapping licks from the many lakes. Why? Because well water can run low (a google search can bring up instances of this across the country) – even the EPA is worried, (as cheap as treated water is) it is not entirely free, and treating water can result in pollution (see this article on reverse osmosis and this on wastewater and on the ocean). Moreover, creating a culture of conservation, that is, a global community that leaves un-absolutely-necessary resources behind (rather than snatching them all up) requires making small gestures in daily practice.
Water Conservation for the Outdoors
This post, the third in my series on water conservation (the others are Blissfest’s Solar Heated Showers and 7 In-Home Water Savings Tips), concentrates on ways that you can conserve water while keeping a verdant lawn or garden. Let’s just hit it point by point.
1. Plant drought resistant plants.
To have green plants and save water, you need to install plants that don’t need very much water to stay alive. I’m not saying that you can only plant cactus and tumbleweed. I’m suggesting that you find out the plant species that are local to your state/county because they are better adapted for that area. This idea, modeling human environments after natural ecologies, is called permaculture. Plants for a Future has a simple, searchable database that you can use to find the plants that fit your ecology and élan.
One thing that this entails is replacing your grass (if you have it) for something else. You’ll find that planting alternatives saves you time spent doing maintenance as well as water.
2. Mulch around your trees and shrubs
Mulching the base of your trees and shrubs makes your lawn look neat and fresh. It also saves water from evaporating. When you water (or rain falls on) mulched land, the water is protected from evaporation in a number of ways; wind is not let to blow evaporating molecules away, sunlight and ambient heat are less capable of cooking water, and the mulch forms a surface for water molecules condense on, or precipitate off of, so they do not escape into the atmosphere.
3. If you water, water well. Watering lightly results in evaporation and encourages shallow roots:
When you do a deep water, creating a water resivour below the root tips, you encourage plants to push their roots further into the soil. As a result, you wind up water for longer periods, but significantly less often. You condition your plants to be more capable of surviving, even if water becomes scarce. This is how to do a deep water: Make sure that the top one inch of soil is loose to prevent run-off. Use a nozzle or sprinkler that spreads the water in fine streams. One website that I looked at recommended watering a ten-by-three foot garden bed for five minutes. One way that you could make this more time effective would be to install soaker hoses or drip-lines.
4. Water early and late in the day, not in the afternoon when evaporation rates are the highest.
5. Always keep a spray nozzle on your hose (when the sprinkler is off).
A spray nozzle means that water only comes out of the hose when you need the water. A great deal of water can be wasted when you walk around or work with the water running.
A diagram of a rain barrel system.
6. Install a rain barrel system.
“Rain barrels” refer to a system for catching and storing rainwater. Rain barrels are an optimal water conservation method because they are totally off the grid. The water that they provide is furnished by nature not produced by human (de)vice. Check out this rain barrel loft that I made for the Fletcher Collective.
7. Be sure you don’t water your house, sidewalk, or street with your sprinkler.
Why put water on something that won’t use it, or may only result in evaporation?
8. Plant during the spring or autumn.
The water that your planting will require will be less during these cool, rainy seasons.
More information on lawn and garden water conservation is available at the Department of Natural Resources website (the government loves conservation, too!), the Soil and Water Conservation Society.
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Now, I know there’s some ideas that I’ve missed. Share them with me and others by throwing them in the comments box below!
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