As long as people need food and clothing, and communities value the aesthetic, economic, environmental, and recreational benefits of public and private green spaces, we will need irrigation systems to ensure healthy vegetation. Today’s irrigation systems have incorporated innovative technology to reach new heights of effectiveness and efficiency.
Nozzles can now generate larger droplets that are far less affected by wind, thereby minimizing drift and airborne evaporation. Low-volume drip systems are designed to deliver precise amounts of water to non-turf vegetation, such as trees, bedding plants, street medians, and containerized plantings. Easy-to-use stand-alone and remote-controlled controller technologies can regulate the amount of water applied, based on seasonal, weather, and planting requirements.
In fact, independent studies show that combining these innovations with related technologies can reduce the typical homeowner’s irrigation water usage by as much as 60%. But, it’s going to take more than innovative technologies to overcome the very real water challenges our society currently faces.
We all realize that water is one of the Earth’s most precious resources. However, far too many commercial, municipal, and residential users are under the illusion that a limitless supply of water exists. The fact is that water issues are truly universal–yet, it is extremely difficult to legislate or regulate the use of water along traditional geo-political boundaries. In some cases, it is almost impossible to get neighboring communities to simply outline and implement consistent water policies. For whatever reasons, water continues to be treated as a local issue to be addressed primarily by local policymakers.
However, this situation appears to be changing. For decades, much of the American Southwest has understood the need for regional policies with significant international implications. Recent drought in the southeastern United States has brought federal, state, and local officials together to discuss serious regional water policies–policies that will have a long-term impact on a wide range of economic and environmental issues. All of this global, federal, and regional policy-making doesn’t disguise the fact that discussing far-reaching water-related policies only takes us so far. Little, if any, real consequence happens until we as individuals step up to the challenge of taking action in our own homes and communities.The bottom line is, we have to help the constituencies we serve, by using water responsibly when maintaining their green-spaces. I encourage each of us to think about this as a four-step process:
1) Advise
Tell your constituency the most complete and accurate facts about water usage in your community. Make sure your citizens understand the economics and costs associated with your community’s water system infrastructure. Score your community’s water usage against that of neighboring communities. Avoid sugar-coating the message. People need to hear the truth, even if it may be a bitter pill to swallow.
2) Educate
Take every opportunity to teach responsible water usage. Start in the schools. Provide materials that students can take home to share with other members of the family. Provide a self-audit kit which helps allows the student monitor water usage at the family level. Reach out to municipal agencies. Help them teach by example. Share with the community how municipal water management practices are being adjusted. Monitor and report results.
3) Encourage and Reward
Celebrate successes. Make the responsible use of water a matter of civic pride. Identify, document, and recognize best practices related to the responsible use of water in your communities. Share these practices through visible local media. Reward others who emulate and apply the practices to their own situations. Create incentives that reward individuals for adopting water-saving technologies.
4) Measure
Create meaningful metrics that help you measure and better understand water usage in your community. Report on a regular basis through local media changes in aggregate and per capital waster usage. Help people relate these metrics to their own households and personal situation.
Since 1933, we at Rain Bird have focused on developing products, services, and technologies that promote the effective and efficient irrigation of the world’s crops, landscapes, and green spaces. We actively partner with like-minded organizations to promote and educate others about how to be responsible stewards of this most precious resource. Our commitment to the irrigation industry, and the communities we serve, has never been greater. However, while it’s imperative that business, governments, and other organizations partner to promote smart water usage, the responsibility to use water wisely ultimately falls to each of us as individuals.
Take a moment to ponder your own personal stewardship of the world’s most precious resource. What changes can you make in your everyday life that reflects a true commitment to intelligent water usage? Only by combining our efforts at the federal, state, local, and individual levels can we move “the intelligent use of water” beyond concept, and into practice.
