<font color=blue>INDUSTRY BUZZ</font> To Water Or Not To Water…

On the other hand, some are developed out of emotion in a knee-jerk fashion that can create a negative impact on the green industry. The limitations range from scheduling restrictions to all out bans on newly installed irrigation systems. While the green industry sees the direct impact of such policy, there are other impacts that are difficult to quantify.

I do not disagree that plants and turf are major water users. The greater issue, however, is the benefits of allowing this water use to continue in a sensible fashion.

Cooling, remediation, stabilization and oxygen production are all serious benefits that can't be discounted. This need is especially evident in highly urbanized areas where sprawling hard surfaces acting as heat sinks, roof and parking lot runoff makes its way back as recharge and carbon dioxide is exhausted by countless sources.

Many policy statements reference the concept of allowing plants to “go dormant” in dry periods, with the idea of total plant recovery when conditions are favorable. 
However, when plants “go dormant” the aforementioned benefits either totally cease or diminish significantly. These beneficial plant processes are needed most during hot and dry periods. Furthermore, some plants and turf simply do not recover when stressed in such a fashion.

Most importantly, the impact the landscape and irrigation industry has on an ecosystem is entirely different than sending return flow to a sewer system and then 20-plus miles out into the Atlantic or the Pacific oceans where the water becomes unusable for a period of time. 

Water used for irrigation is significant source of return flow and recharge. While water exhausted through plant processes, such as transpiration, is in vapor form, it is some of the purest water returned to the hydrologic cycle.

The water the industry requires does not have to be drinkable. In fact, our industry can become part of the disposal chain that creates positive recharge in addition to the byproducts of cooling, remediation, stabilization and oxygen production. Many areas of the country shun this concept as an alternative to discharging effluent from sewer systems in a fashion that realizes no further benefit from the return flow. 

It is quite clear the population on this planet is growing. This means more housing, infrastructure, roads, buildings, and inevitably, more hard surface. I suggest the more we “cultivate” hard surface, the more it becomes necessary to have healthy plants and turf. The resources of this planet are finite in nature.  The same amount of water exists today as did at the time of creation, regardless of any belief. Since that time, we have been involved in a complex chain of water re-use.

Every water use has an impact. Technology exists to make irrigation in landscape, in turf and in agriculture part of a complex solution to the impact human beings are having on the planet. That chain breaks when the water is shut-off and plants cease to perform their miraculous processes that constantly improve the environment. The chain also critically weakens when our industry sets a bad example through unnecessary or inefficient watering.

The key is to set a good example in our day-to-day practices by not only taking advantage of the latest technology, but also by remembering the fundamentals of head spacing, layout, equipment selection and hydraulics. Take steps to prevent overspray onto buildings, roads and sidewalks. Install control equipment that, at the very least, suspends watering in periods of sufficient moisture.

To sum it up, be good stewards. 

These examples are necessary tools to those who manage water systems. These plans are typically produced by stakeholder groups at the local level. It is important that the landscape and irrigation industry participate in these discussions about water policy. Too often, these plans are developed with empty seats at the table. As a green industry professional, take your seat and participate in the process. Let people know a healthy and vigorous landscape is vital.

Remember, July is Smart Irrigation Month.

Andy Smith, CIC, CID, CLIA, is the Irrigation Association's state and affiliate relations director.