No Silver Bullet

There is no silver bullet in the quest for demand reduction in landscape water use.  The key to sustainable demand reduction is the property owner understanding the fundamental issues – the basics of landscape water management.    There is no substitute for understanding the basics, no technology that is a silver bullet -- no short cut to be taken.

Imprinting an effective understanding of landscape water management basics can be done.  “Understanding” is defined as knowledge in long-term memory that enables positive decisions and actions toward efficient landscape water management.  At Irrigation Essentials we have reconfigured how landscape water management is typically presented.  Our guidelines for an “inquiry based learning” methodology are:

• Keep it simple
• Encourage a social environment where people care enough to participate and  contribute
• Include practical hands-on steps that are empirical and verifiable
• Accurately frame the expectations along the way

This approach puts the focus on how we come to know the important conditions in the landscape, to better arm the end user with the skills to make effective site-specific decisions.

Understanding the basics will enable people to inspect and verify the effectiveness of their irrigation.  With understanding will come the confidence to replicate success and further fine-tune their irrigation management.  

Irrigation Essentials will enable an insight into the ecology of the landscape, which should lead to the desire for an ecologically correct ornamental horticulture, transforming the end user into part of the solution for long term demand reduction in landscape water use.

Water Utility Articles • Posted on 03/04/2009 • Permalink

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