EDITORIAL: Water Smarts

Water conservation is one of the most important issues facing the United States and the landscape industry. Water concerns range from region to region based on availability and current need. However, whether the need is today or tomorrow, the time for full-fledged water use education is now.
 
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer recently ran a series of articles on the Great Lakes titled, “Who Owns Our Water?” It discussed how growing worldwide water concerns have reached the United States, and is again spurring talk of large-scale diversions of water from the Great Lakes to the Southeast or the Southwest.
 
The issue is complicated, pitting regions and businesses against one another in a fight to obtain as much fresh water as quickly as possible.
 
Closer to home, the landscape industry has yet to fully understand the impact of the hottest and driest summer on record for much of the Southeast. Contractors report that it crippled many businesses in our industry because of watering restrictions, the increased cost of growing plant materials, the inability to reseed and sod as well as reduced recurring mowing opportunities.
 
Stories are also plentiful throughout the U.S. of municipalities and states paying residents to replace turf and plant materials with hardscapes or synthetic alternatives, as well as restricting the ability to install new landscapes and parks surrounding new housing and office developments. There thought is, if the landscapes aren’t installed, then water is not needed to maintain them, right?
 
This month’s cover story (see page 32) details how one irrigation contractor has had to remodel his business based on a lack of rain. At one time, dry weather was a good impetus for irrigation system sales, but Ed Mutio, owner of Water Works Unlimited, Wake Forest, N.C., discovered that he had to reinvent his business to survive last summer’s drought and increasing water mandates.
 
While drought is an easy opportunity to bring the issue of water scarcity to light, it’s certainly not the only reason to discuss the future of our country’s water supply. Water conservation and smart use of this resource should be a concern of each and every one of us no matter the size, scope and location of our businesses.
 
Last year’s grassroots Smart Irrigation Month effort, plus the debut of the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program pushed water-wise messages into the forefront. Additionally, irrigation certification programs provide increased credibility for those interacting with the public on water-related subjects.
 
The education process doesn’t stop there. Lawn and landscape professionals continually need to coach their customers – residential and commercial alike – on the efficiencies and effectiveness of smart irrigation use and its long-term impact on our environment. The issue is not whether to water, it’s how to water smart. LL