Conserving Water for the Future

My colleague S. Singh recently wrote and article titled, "Xeriscaping for the future" that addressed the issue of water use in Texas. It emphasized that water used in lawn care is unnecessary and offers a possible solution through the use of xeriscaping.

I find the idea of water conservation vital to the future of the state and the people that live here. Singh points out in his post that it takes a lot of water to maintain a green fresh lawn and a large portion of household water is used in making this happen. I completely agree with this point and have even witnessed this first hand in many neighborhoods. Water is more scarce than people think, many companies and house holds will set up automatic sprinklers that go off even when raining or water in the middle of the day when most of the water will evaporate and do little good to a lawn anyway.

Another point Singh made was the the use of xeriscaping to replace a lawn with native plants and gravel or pebble ground cover instead of grass. The expense at first would be high but would lead to cost savings later on and help with water conservation. While I agree that a solution should be met with lawn cares intensive water use the appeal of replacing ones lawn with native plants and rock overlay does not work for everybody. Singh also suggested the requirement of new residential developments to use xeriscaping for their lawns to further decrease water use but I also feel that this is not a good solution.

I believe the best way to promote water conservation in Texas would be to provide incentive to take part. As I mentioned before many people may not like the idea of xeriscaping and so alternatives like native Texas grasses that can handle the heat without water might be better. Further informing the public about water conservation might also be a viable solution as many people don't know the true seriousness about Texas drought. Even when intensive fails I don't believe the forcing of lawn conversions in new neighborhoods is the way to go nor is this really helping the overall problem. Many companies have the ability to pay for as much water as they could possibly need so water conservation of any kind might not a top priority. In cases like this laws limiting water use on lawns would be more effective and would effect a lot more people.

Conserving water in Texas is of great importance and is a must if we want to continue to have water in the future. The upkeep of lawns takes a lot of water and needs to be met with a solution that works for us all and allows us to play an active roll in water conservation.