CONSERVATION CORNER

DECORATIVE PONDS, WATER USE, AND ALTERNATIVES

During the last couple years, there has been increased interest in decorative ponds and streams for landscaping. Associated with this trend, there has been discussion about whether or not these features use more or less water than turf. In an attempt to understand water feature and turf water use more thoroughly, your water providers have been researching this issue and it turns out the answer is far from clear.

The following is what we've discovered. For similar sized areas of pond and turf, pond evaporation is greater than turf evapotranspiration. However, ponds have neither runoff nor deep percolation water losses. Thus on balance, water use may be similar for water features and turf. Part of this answer depends on how efficiently the turf is irrigated. Excessive irrigation leads to greater runoff and deep percolation losses. Under these circumstances, turf requires more water.

Fortunately, there are attractive low water use alternatives to water features that have a very similar appearance. One alternative is dry streambeds. Dry streambeds have most of the appeal of water features and cost thousands of dollars less to install and save hundreds of dollars in water and electrical costs per year.

During this period of extremely dry weather, we need to develop low water use alternatives for all of our landscape features. Whether it is low water use plants or dry streambeds, suitable substitutes exist for most of our landscaping needs. It's time to be creative and contribute to the community's water conservation efforts. If you would like to know more about low water use landscape alternatives, please contact your water provider.

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