The use of water is a hot-button topic in the desert Southwest, just as it is here at The Pointe. We hear much about the depletion of our water resources, so this Advocacy Group would like to help bring some information and ideas to you so we can do our part to conserve what we have and to manage our water use more efficiently.
Two big problems that are easy to spot are overspray and runoff. Overspray refers to when the water is overshooting any areas that are planted. This may be at the edge of a street or a walkway, but may also be up against a fence or wall. Any water not landing on a plant or in a planting area is wasted water. Any water that ends up in the street will find its way into the neighborhood’s stormwater system, or evaporate into the air at points along the path within the system. This is the water that is known as runoff. This is water waste – waste you are paying for in the form of a portion of your Association dues going to the City of Phoenix to pay for that water…that was wasted! And while the direct financial impact is evident, other detrimental impacts are less visible. Water from runoff does not go into the water treatment system. Instead, it makes its way directly onto land and into streams, rivers, sloughs and/or creeks, carrying with it any pollutants it picks up along the way, such as pesticides, fertilizers, oil and trash, all of which are harmful to the balance of clean water for sustaining life. Additionally, overspray and runoff are detrimental to the surfaces they hit or across which they flow. When you look around our neighborhood, you may notice the effects of overspray and runoff when you see walls with damaged paint and/or stucco, walls with calcium deposits discoloring the paint, tree trunks with the same discoloring effect, and asphalt or concrete that is cracked, pitted or hollowed. Calling your landscaping company to your property to evaluate your sprinkler settings can help you lower your contribution to overspray and runoff, saving you and the Association money in the long run.
Another problem that occurs frequently is using an irrigation schedule that is simply more than the plant or planting area needs. Some top landscaping companies in the Phoenix area report that they observe many residents applying too much water too fast. The result is as discussed in the first paragraph…runoff. They report that moist soil absorbs water much slower than the rate at which the irrigation system applies it. They suggest using multiple cycles of short duration with enough time between cycles for the water to absorb. This may require a complete reset of your watering cycle and a consultation with your landscaper to lend you a hand. But the payoff in the end will be worth it.
The last problem to be touched on in this article is the slope, or grade, of the land. Oftentimes water is being applied to a slope that is too severe to prevent the water from slowing down under the effects of gravity, resulting in runoff versus infiltration into the soil. Take a few minutes over the next week to observe how the water responds within your planting areas. If it seems to you that water from your irrigation lines spends more time running away from your plants than it does infiltrating the roots of your plants, you may need an adjustment to the slope. The type of plant you have in any given area will determine how you want water to behave, but thinking in these terms, meaning water behavior relative to the plant’s needs, may help you see where you could use some adjustments. It may be that 20 years ago, everything seemed fine, and the water went where you needed it to go. That very well could be, but soils settle and transport over time, leading to rise and depression, and plants change over time as their roots spread and/or deepen. Observing what is happening in your yard today will get you on your way to making some positive adjustments to the slope of your land for better plant health and better water utilization.
We hope that the community will begin to see some of these ideas instituted among the common areas of the neighborhood over time as a new landscaping company comes on board in the near future. It would be a nice feather in the neighborhood’s cap to be the community others look to for ideas to transform their water usage in the name of water, environment and money savings!
The ideas expressed in this article are only a few available to readers on the internet or through professional publications. We invite you to read more, share what you learn, and show how you positively implemented changes on your property. You may become the feature of a future article!
Image: Green Global Travel