My previous posts on water focused primarily on rain fall and the destinations where your rain ends up. I started here because the Upper Midwest received plenty of rain this year, and flooding has become a recurring problem. The last year with significant drought in Wisconsin that I can recall was 2012; however other parts of the country have had repeated years of significant drought in the past decade.
Conservation in the United States started as a movement intended to direct the smart and efficient use of natural resources. Managing them in such a way that they'd be there for the use of future generations. Freshwater is a natural resource in limited supply and a tricky one to own. Rivers may flow through many states, or lakes may border many municipalities so there is always some politicking involved.
Water politics and management should be of great interest to folks living in drought prone areas like the Southwest but also to city dwellers as many large cities draw their water supply from where beyond their local borders.
Step 1: Everyone should know where their municipal water comes from. This should fall into the bucket of google it.
Step 2: Be a good steward; the hard part. This isn't so much about paying attention to your meter and paying your bill on a regular basis. (Note - Both are good things to do.) It's more about are you smart about how you are using your water?
One of the simplest ways to reduce wasted water is to avoid using it on your lawn and garden. There are some simple things to keep in mind for lawn water usage:
1) What's the climate where you live? Should you even try to grow turf grass there? Regardless of whatever the local lawn guy or hardware store is selling, the fact is turf grass just isn't meant to grow everywhere. You may need to look at working with other types of ground cover or limiting how much lawn you intend to have.
2) What plants are native to where I live? This is a good one, if you decided to put in a tree or shrub or flowers that are native to somewhere else (perhaps more tropical) than where you live; you may need to do more watering. Different kinds of plants have different watering needs. The good news about native plants is that they are adapted to handle whatever precipitation typically falls where you live. In my experience, I typically only need to water my flower beds and trees in the 1st year to get them established (and only if there isn't consistent rain).
3) If you aren't watering your turf grass (or you haven't planted any turf grass), and you are working with native plants for your trees, shrubs, and flowers; the other way to eliminate waste is to be clever about where your water comes from. I'll plug rain barrels here again. They can effectively capture some rain fall to use later on if you go through a dry spell. I've found I can often use rain barrel water captured in April / May in June or July. (Not this year, it's been raining all the time, so there's no need.) Another method used in places that have had significant struggles with water supply is to capture and reuse gray water (such as from a shower or bath) to be used to water your plants.
4) Beyond monitoring your outdoor use, paying attention to indoor use, in particular leaky pipes or running toilets are good things to mend to make sure that you are making efficient use of your water. Many things have been suggested over the years such as bathe less and when you do choose to shower, install a water saving shower head, turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, and there are a variety of options around toileting including flush less often, dual flush toilets, displacing water in your tank to reduce volume, and a whole variety of things you can find online.
None of these methods will prevent major droughts but they should help you save money on your water bill (and who doesn't like a little extra cash in their pocket?) as well as conserve some of the freshwater in your towns reservoir, aquifer or whatever type of source it is. As cities continue to grow and populations may grow faster than the freshwater capacity can keep pace, it's important for everyone to be good stewards of the local water supply.
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