Aside from breathable air, water is probably the natural resource most often taken for granted. Unless we live in an area with explicit restrictions, consumers snap on the faucet and let it flow without a second thought, filling bathtubs and kiddie pools, soaking lawns and gardens, scrubbing and rinsing cars. But when shortages strike, the most visible water usage, that used on lawns and landscapes, immediately takes it on the chin, even though everyone knows plenty of waste goes on inside the home as well. Governments rush to limit landscape irrigation during times of drought has become an almost knee-jerk reaction across the country.
And the reaction is becoming more and more commonplace. Though the situation has yet to reach the crisis stage, reservoir levels are dropping and demand is rising throughout the nation. Clients still want lush landscapes at the cheapest price possible. Governments seldom regulate in times of plenty, and when they do, enforcement is often lax. Water providers usually do not price their product in ways that encourage efficiency (not surprising, since many are private companies motivated by profit). Unless your livelihood is tied to the green industry, there is little incentive to change the status quo.
But the status quo will not endure much longer, experts agree. The federal government predicts at least 36 states will face water shortages within the next five years. This trend is being driven by rising temperatures, drought, urban sprawl, waste and excess, and, above all, population growth. Between 1950 and 2000 the U.S. population doubled, and its water needs tripled, but investment in infrastructure has lagged far behind burgeoning demand.
Landscape contractors are already starting to feel the pinch. Half those who responded to a Lawn & Landscape survey reported seeing an increase in local water restrictions over the past year. The following is a look at this problem and what it could mean to the industry’s future.
WATER ISSUES FLOW EAST.
Nowhere is this conundrum more evident than in Georgia, which in normal years enjoys rainfall levels that verge on tropical. But a recent series of dry spells and the rapidly growing population of the Atlanta metro area have combined to cause a severe and lengthy drought which made headlines in 2007 as the worst in the state’s history. Last year a 10 percent reduction in water consumption was ordered by Gov. Sonny Perdue, and 61 counties in the northern part of the state virtually banned all outdoor watering. Lawmakers also adopted Georgia’s first statewide water plan, which calls for three years of assessments to measure Georgia’s water supply and needs, and creates 11 regional councils to formulate their own water plans.
Many fear that Georgia’s troubles are a prelude of things to come for other states east of the Mississippi, states historically unaccustomed to grappling with the kind of long-term water scarcity issues that western states have faced since the arrival of the first settlers. “I think in the east we are going to have to start thinking along those lines, as well,” says Sherry Loudermilk, executive director of the Georgia Green Industry Association (GGIA), “particularly in areas like Atlanta, where growth has outpaced the ability of the municipalities and infrastructures to keep up with water demand.”
It is imperative that green industries take the lead on these matters, because they are the first to suffer when shortages strike. Bans in outdoor watering caused her state’s green industry to lose an enormous amount in sales. A GGIA survey concluded that the $8.1 billion industry lost $3.1 billion in just a few months, causing layoffs of some 35,000 employees, according to Loudermilk.
It was only through the efforts of green industry groups like hers that the state voted in February to ease some of the water restrictions in the northern part of the state.
There has been an overall decline in water usage throughout Georgia, according to Loudermilk. In some areas conservation has been more efficient than state officials had even hoped. But this, too, can lead to problems. Many of the water authorities where conservation is most intense have seen sharps drop in sales, causing some to miss bond payments, right at the time when they most need to reinvest in their infrastructures.
Like many in the field, Loudermilk believes increased cooperation between the green and blue industries would be a step in the right direction. In August, the GGIA met with members of the Georgia Association of Water Professionals in a joint program whose theme was “Our Customers are Your Customers.” Both industries are dependant on water availability for their livelihoods, and on the basis of this common ground, Loudermilk notes, “there was a very healthy dialogue between the two groups.”
A big problem facing water providers is meeting peak demand during the summer months. It takes investment to provide the large capacity used during those months, but those dollars lack cost effectiveness because such capacity lies dormant for the remainder of the year.
Many not only in Georgia but elsewhere are considering changes in rate structures that would encourage consumers to save water. GGIA officials have met with water professionals from western states to discuss ways of implementing such price plans. A certain amount of water is allotted to each residence, and once that amount is reached, prices go up incrementally.
“Certainly that is something done in the west very frequently,” says Loudermilk, “and it is something we are looking into here in Georgia. I don’t think the water providers here are ready to make those kinds of wholesale changes at this point, but we are certainly looking at all avenues.”
A NATIONAL PROBLEM.
Of course other areas of the country are suffering as well. California has drought conditions more or less across the state. Many areas of Florida have implemented permanent restrictions on watering plant life. The reservoirs in upstate New York have dwindled to record lows. Austin, Texas, faces year-round water restrictions.
“Even up here in Michigan we get into some situations where we see restrictions pop up here and there,” says Andrew Smith, CID, external affairs director of the Irrigation Association. “It’s not necessarily that we don’t have the water. It’s that we don’t have the ability to move it where it is needed when it is needed.”
The federal government and product manufacturers are aware of the problem and are taking steps to encourage conservation. In 2006, the EPA launched its WaterSense labeling program, which gives consumers more information about which products are water efficient. And, in recent years, product manufacturers have introduced new technologies aimed at enhancing irrigation maintenance – “smart” irrigation technology.
Smart irrigation systems typically involve a stand-alone controller or add-on device that interfaces with a conventional clock-type controller. The system measures things like rainfall and soil moisture so irrigation occurs when it is needed rather than on a preset schedule. Some employ rain sensors that override sprinkler clocks when precipitation occurs or gather and use reports from local weather stations to calculate run times.
These items are effective and useful, but the systems are only as good as the landscape irrigation professionals who install and maintain them, according to Smith. If irrigators lack the training to provide superior service, new technology will do little good. For example, common mistakes include placing sensors under building eaves where rain doesn’t fall, or installing crooked heads that spray onto sidewalks. Also, during maintenance, irrigators must know how to troubleshoot these complex systems, which is not an easy task.
“Many have jumped on the bandwagon of smart controllers, but these strategies only work when they are accompanied by an equally smart irrigator,” he says. “For example, if I put a smart controller on an irrigation system that is poorly installed, I sometimes can deliver a disastrous result, depending on what kinds of inputs are used on that controller.”
A client would probably obtain better water efficiency with old-fashioned, hand-operated equipment installed by an experienced irrigator, than with new cutting edge, smart technology installed by someone who did not know what he or she was doing, Smith says.
“First and foremost, it is the people,” he says, “not the mechanisms, not the equipment – these are only inanimate objects doing what people tell them to do, even the smart ones, because they still need inputs.” The proper emission devices must be selected; water must be delivered uniformly; and the landscape should be divided into zones of like plant materials so the system waters collective hydrozones simultaneously, rather than intermingling different plants with different water needs.
“To me the top of the heap is having that distribution uniformity as high as possible. Otherwise is it extremely difficult to be efficient with overall water use,” he says. “Consumers will always find a way to bypass programming and over water an area because of a dry spot.”
The future will probably hold changes in the way society delivers water to consumers, Smith predicts. Waiting until a drought hits and then employing a binary “on or off” approach to irrigation does nothing to reward efficient water use. Governments have felt free to use this approach in the past because landscapes have traditionally been viewed as a luxury rather than a boon to the environment. But fresh data is emerging highlighting the positive impacts of healthy landscapes, such as carbon sequestration, oxygen production, erosion control, ground water recharge, storm water management, and wildlife habitat.
Again, some kind of tiered pricing system, one that measures each consumer’s use, would greatly improve water conservation, Smith believes. He cites the block rate system employed by the Irvine Ranch Water District in California as an excellent example. “What that has done is actually elevated the value of a good irrigator, because the consumer starts to pay a heck of lot more for water when waste is detected though the block rate structure,” he explains.
INTO THE FUTURE.
A few years ago, New Jersey suffered drought conditions, and water restrictions were put in place. But since then it has been business as usual, with little or no thought given to water conservation, according to Mike Boddy, owner of Lasting Impressions Landscape, in Westmont, N.J. The drought caused no great push for water saving technologies since “it didn’t matter how efficient your irrigation system was because you could not run it no matter what,” he says.
Boddy has his irrigation license but it seldom impresses clients, who are more interested in the bottom line, he says. “Irrigation is one of those things that is in the ground, so people don’t see it and they don’t think about it.” The state Department of Environmental Protection has irrigation regulations on the books, but they are rarely enforced, he notes.
This is an attitude shared by many governments and home owners in the eastern U.S. But if recent trends continue, even people in New Jersey are going to have to pay more attention to water usage, and Boddy’s irrigation license will start to look a whole lot more impressive.