State of the irrigation industry

The 2010 Water Conference, presented by the Irrigation Association, brought together leaders in irrigation to discuss important water issues facing the industry.

During the two-day conference held in July, participants discussed the state of the irrigation industry, and how it can drive policy discussions and best practices to be seen as part of a sustainable solution.

The conference was sponsored by Toro, Irrigation Consulting, Ewing, Harco, the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Assocaition, TerraMannus Technologies, Regenesis Management Group and Netafim. MaryLou Smith, policy and collaboration specialist for the Colorado Water Institute at Colorado State University, facilitated the meeting.

Speakers were asked to respond to this question: What is your vision for water in the 21st century? What follows are excerpts from the IA’s report. – Chuck Bowen

Brave new worlds: Landscape industry trends
What does the recent economic downturn mean to our industry? Overall, the contraction to our market over the last 26 months is between 40 to 50 percent. The West Coast and East Coast have been hit the hardest. The Midwest, with the exception of Michigan, is experiencing the least amount of decline. Even in areas with lesser amounts of decline, such as New England, the pain is still present.

Competition. In the short term, competition is fierce as competitors drop prices. Margins are being squeezed.
Surviving companies will be lean and extremely efficient. Smart companies are accepting the economic chaos and are seeking some hidden opportunities in it.

Address the Environment. Environmental issues have dramatically changed from conserving precious natural resources into creating a sustainable environment. We in the landscape industry can play an important role. Conversely, if we do not play an important role, the environmental issues will dramatically change our industry. We often think water conservation is reserved for the arid West. In Massachusetts today, most area communities impose water restrictions to meet the 2004 state standard setting the maximum per-person usage rate at 65 gallons per day. This regulation has the potential to put the Massachusetts landscape industry out of business. What is our role? Through landscapes, we create sustainable sites.

Several organizations have identified “green” industries as the number one growth industry. Simply: Plant trees. Vegetative roof surfaces, or green roofs, are an additional opportunity. Every organization has the power and the talent, which unleashed, will result in dramatic change. – Tom Barrett, owner, Green Water Infrastructure

Water challenges: Personal vision from the eyes of a practitioner
As the manager of a mid-sized water utility in Tidewater, Va., for more than 20 years, I have seen the issue of water supply evolve from a climate of abundance to limited resources. I’ve seen groundwater supplies diminish to levels of great concern. I’ve participated in two attempts to obtain permits to build water supply reservoirs that were denied after years of efforts and huge investments because of environmental impacts. And, finally the negative impacts of climate change on water supply are becoming more and more evident. All of these things make it abundantly clear that as a society we have to better use our existing water resources and develop new water supplies.

Technology. We have to develop technologies to treat tidally-influenced water to remove salts. We have to do this in quantities and at a cost to not only support the consumptive use of people but also the needs of agriculture.

New technologies are promising but still very expensive. Wastewater is an obvious underutilized resource. We have to develop affordable, safe technologies to maximize this underutilized resource.

Outdoor Water Use. The landscape irrigation industry needs to be part of the solution for addressing local water needs. Outdoor water use accounts for  more than 50 percent of our water demands during the summer in my area. In periods of water scarcity, local governments will immediately migrate to limiting outdoor water use. This could have a devastating impact on local businesses. How can this be avoided? The landscape industry needs to be proactive in partnering with local governments to promote “smart” irrigation practices. Landscape professionals need to be ambassadors in promoting the latest technologies for encouraging water conservation to their customers.

Costs. Benjamin Franklin said “no one knows the value of water until the well goes dry.” He was right, but, much like energy, we have to maintain the cost of water at a level that makes it affordable to all segments of society. Thus, it is extremely important that as our “well goes dry” we find technologies that make affordable water supplies available. – Larry Foster, James City Service Authority

When 50 inches isn't enough
As an eastern state that receives an average of 50 inches of rainfall annually, many would wonder why water resources management has become a critical issue in Georgia. If states out west can manage their water issues with only as much annual rainfall as we receive in a good summer thunderstorm, have we done something wrong? The answer to that depends on whom you ask, but one thing that I feel is certain is that other eastern states will be dealing with similar issues in the future.

Several factors have led to Georgia’s current position. First, we have experienced a series of droughts in the ’80s, the ’90s and most recently 2006-2009. These droughts stressed local governments and their ability to supply water, caused farmers to abandon the idea of dry land farming, and made homeowners rethink their landscapes. In Atlanta, where six million people primarily depend on surface water since there is very little groundwater in the geologic formations beneath them, rapid growth coupled with very small contributing watersheds and little available storage led to severe water shortages during these droughts.

When cities send out warnings that they have less than seven days of supply left, does it change the way people think of water? Is climate change driving the increased drought frequency? When we couple this with legal challenges such as Alabama and Florida’s lawsuit against Georgia over downstream flows on the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, South Carolina’s lawsuit against Georgia claiming excessive groundwater use is causing salt water intrusion, and a federal judge’s decision that Atlanta cannot use the U.S. Corps of Engineers reservoirs for drinking water since it is not a designated use, you begin to realize how critical these resources are.

While some may claim that this is all the result of excessive growth and poor planning, there are critical scientific and social questions that need to be answered. What are natural or historic flows? How much water do darters, or smelt, or oysters or snails really need, and when do they need it? Is food production more important than industrial growth? What about human needs versus environmental flows? How can we get by using less water? These are the types of questions that regional water planning councils around Georgia will be struggling to answer.

How does all this Affect irrigation? Conservation will be critical. It better be efficient.

I think we will still see green lawns and manicured landscapes, but hopefully the water costs associated with them will go up dramatically or water use will go down due to improved irrigation scheduling, application technologies, and more efficient use of rainfall. – Mark Risse, professor and coordinator of extension engineering, University of Georgia