Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Irrigation

I read a piece on wineconscience.com about irrigation. It points out that California is one of the heaviest users of water in the nation, and water is getting scarcer, so outlines what vineyards can do to reduce water usage.

One thing that it doesn't mention though is something that we can all do to reduce water usage: Rip up your lawn and plant vines instead as Paul & Stef Romero are doing. According to figures from the University of Florida:

  • Watering a half acre of yard “only once per week” equals 40,730 gallons of water a month or 488,760 gallons per year

  • 40% of our drinking water goes to watering the landscape

  • A lifetime supply of drinking water for one human is 16,000 gallons, less than it takes for a month of lawn irrigation

  • Add to that the hassle of mowing the lawn, not to mention the environmental impact - gas powered mowers don't have catalytic converters - to grow a product that we can't even eat?

    1 comments:

    Wes Barton said...

    When I was a kid I couldn't understand why some people would have shrubs-n-stuff instead of lawns. Especially families with kids. Now, I can't understand why anyone would have a lawn.