I am currently working on a CBSM project for a municipality in Washington State. The program is two-fold:
Residential program focused on conservation of outdoor water use and groundwater protection through four BMIs:
Using slow-release fertilizers
Using less than 4 lbs. of fertilizer per year
1 watering per week
Mulch mowing
Commercial outdoor water use conservation
Previous efforts to reduce outdoor water use have focused mainly on irrigation audits, but commercial audits have not had a lasting impact. Also, keep in mind that the municipality does not have the resources to provide rebates on commercial upgrades. Im seeking information on other programs or efforts with similar goals, specificallywhat worked? What didnt work? Barriers? Benefits?
Any input is much appreciated! Thank you!
Laura Gese
Senior Account Executive
Frause
United States
Seeking Information on Water Conservation & Groundwater Protection
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Check the Florida Water Star Program. This is a new voluntary (for now) program
that is developing a Gold (almost ready), Silver (in effect) and Bronze (being
developed for remodeling) standard for homes in Florida's 7 water districts.
Arunas Kutkus
Ratings Analyst
AZS Consulting, Inc.
United States
Laura,
The Irrigation Association in Australia produced this brochure which has been popular as a way of teaching domestic consumers the relationship between soil, plant and water http://www.irrigation.org.au/assets/pages/6E9E6203-1708-51EB-A65470E3F41123EB/Good%20watering%20LR.pdf
A government authority has also been very successful in encouraging consumers to maintain water use over 2 years to 170 L/person/day (38 gal). It's website is http://www.qwc.qld.gov.au/
Hope this helps
Anne Currey
Anne Currey
Naturally Resourceful
Australia
Laura,
An article titled "Is Your Lawn Truly Green? Sage Advice from Top Northeast Experts" that the Maine YardScaping Partnership (http://www.yardscaping.org) published last year may be helpful to you. Things in the Northeast are a bit different from the Northwest but not terribly different. We grow the same grasses and in Maine we get a fair amount of precipitation. More than eastern Washington but less than western Washington. The article is found at http://www.yardscaping.org/press/documents/YardScaping_Spring-Lawn-Article_final_5-23-08.pdf . If you have any questions, just send me a note.
Gary Fish
Manager, Pesticide Programs
Maine Board of Pesticides Control
United States
http://www.YardScaping.org
Laura,
Here in Sydney Australia, Sydney Water has been delivering a program called Love Your Garden that assesses a landscape's irrigation demand by considering the local soil, mix of plants, exposure to sun, wind, heat sources, shade, competition with trees, in addition to more macro variables, such as temperature, humidity and rainfall.
We use the information gathered from this assessment (which takes about an hour)to provide an accurate, seasonally adjusted irrigation schedule that is suitable for automatic irrigation systems or those who hand water or use manual, movable sprinkers.
The challenge, as we see it, is to encourage gardeners to match thier irrigation behaviour with thier garden's irrigation demand.
Rather than leaving gardeners to use relatively subjective means to determine how frequently or how long they need to irrigate, we add some scientific objectivity into the mix and then utilise a range of sinple behaviourial prompts to encourage a shift in habits.
The most dominant variable we find we need to focus gardener's attention on is soil. Specifically, differences in soil type texture, and depth can result in major differences in irrigation demand while also presenting big opportunities for simple, relatively inexpensive changes to reduce irrigation demand.
Details of this program are available here: http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/InYourGarden/LoveYourGarden/ alternatively a simpler online version has been developed here: http://www.ap.urscorp.com/watertool/
Regards,
Andre Boerema
Sydney Water Corporation
Australia
Laura, You may find this report helpful, if you're unaware of it...
"Stretching Urban Water Supplies in Colorado: Strategies for Landscape Water Conservation" by Rachel Barta of the Colorado Water Resources Commission helpful.
Downloaded at: http://www.cwi.colostate.edu/publications/sr/13.pdf
Included are case studies from other states and outdoor water use restriction strategies that are applicable anywhere.
Good luck!
george zoto