Saving Water verses Saving the Environment

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I've had a lot of people contact me this year about a doing a plan for a low water, water-conserving, or xeriscape garden. Every time I get really excited thinking, "Yes, people are finally going to do something for the environment." But then, they tell me they want mostly rock with just a few ornamental plants, some of the plants aren't even water-conserving plants. It seems to be the new trend is to pull our lawn and replace it with rock or artificial turf. Which is great for conserving water, and we definitely need to do that, but is it really the answer to our drought and water issues.

I've been thinking about this a lot and we often end up watching different climate shows and I'm always looking at assorted environmental topics. There are a lot of other people that are getting concerned about this trend. It seems good on the surface, but there is more to water conservation and water preservation than removing water using plants. Here are some key points to consider.

1- Many places have done studies about air temperature, surface temperature and soil temperature for different materials. Rock surfaces and artificial turf are as hot as pavement. Cities are getting warmer every year to due all of the pavement, its called "Urban Heat Island". Now our residential areas will start seeing the same effect as the lawns and plants are replaced with warmer surfaces. The hotter our environment is, the more water we need. You can check out more information on artificial turf here.
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/artificial-turf-installment
You can also check out how adding landscaping to a power plant reduced energy costs for their customers here. 
http://www.sustainablesites.org/burbank-water-and-power-ecocampus

2- On a large scale we are seeing whole regions become drier and drier. This is caused by a variety of sources, but is often tied to the degradation of landscapes and forests. You can find more information about desertification, its causes, and what can be done to change it here.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-desertification-and-the-role-of-climate-change
As more areas are studied and more people look into the environment they notice that we need plants to survive and everything is tied together. 

3- What we do with out landscape can actually change the climate and environment around us. Maybe the effect isn't large on a small residential scale, but it is still something to consider. They have done numerous reforestation projects to try and reclaim degraded land and improve the economic situation of the surrounding people. You can check out one such effort here.
​https://onetreeplanted.org/pages/reforestation#:~:text=Reforestation%20can%20be%20defined%20as,%2C%20agricultural%20clearing%2C%20and%20development.
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​They have begun to notice when the reforest and area that was desert, the climate changes. Where once they had to bring in and channel water to get the new trees to grow, once the forest is established, the area receives enough natural rain to support the forest. By reforesting areas, they are bringing increased natural rainfall to the area. That's just cool. 

4- I like food. I like fresh food from my garden. I really am not looking forward to a day where my food is all mechanically produced and engineered. But to have fresh, natural food, I need pollinators. As habit (like dead leaves and wood chips) is lost, we start to loose our native bees (which are a major source of pollinators) and we are loosing our beautiful Monarch Butterflies. This trend will continue, if we keep replacing plants with other materials. One of the best ways to conserve water, and maybe even help bring in more rain, is to Go Native. Appropriate Native and even adapted plants will use a minimal amount of water the first two years after planting. After that, they won't need additional water, and they will keep the soil cooler, and the air cooler, and the insects happier, and maybe even you too. 

After all, would you rather open your front door and walk out into an oven where the air and ground are all hot, or into a natural area that you can sit and enjoy with a more comfortable temperature.