A Sustainable Approach to Water Management
The extended drought in the Southeast has become national news. Atlanta has had outdoor watering restrictions for months and now has an outright ban on many outdoor water uses. Other southern cities have instituted these restrictions as well.
Water, one of our most essential natural resources, often goes unnoticed until there is a crisis. Short-term water conservation solutions, such as those suggested in metro-Atlanta: watering bans, decreasing the release of water from Lake Lanier, or the creating of yet another reservoir tend to be supportive of traditional development practices and associated regulations.
A Balanced, Long-Term Approach
Drought is a naturally occurring fact of life. Over the past 100 years, some part of the United States has experienced a severe or extreme drought every year, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
This, coupled with the population growth of southern cities, underscores the need for a balanced and long-term approach to water use and water conservation. It requires that we reduce our “water footprint”— the amount of water a given property, building, development, community, or region uses.
Reducing Your “Water Footprint”
Reducing one’s water footprint can provide direct positive impacts to a community or regional system. Many of these solutions can be retro-fitted to existing developments and can be as simple as:
- Implementing
a water harvesting system to capture and recycle
run-off. This can be as simple as rain barrels on downspouts or below-grade cisterns for use in irrigation and flushing toilets.
- Installing
raingardens (bio-infiltration) to capture and recycle run-off from building and pavement.
- Installing
pervious pavements. In many areas, pervious paving can be used as a credit against retention requirements.
- Integrating
stormwater management systems into the landscape. Keeping the potential run-off on-site decreases downstream impacts.
- Installing
a gray water system to re-use shower or rinse water for other uses such as irrigation, fire protection, and toilets.
- Installing
composting toilets and waterless urinals. These use less or no water and save thousands of gallons per year.
- Installing
native trees and plant materials and limiting high maintenance lawns and landscaping.
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Sustainable Solutions
We have been providing water conservation techniques in our planning and design since founding Ecos in 1994. Water conservation, recycling and re-use is an intrinsic part of our commitment to sustainable planning and design. As the first landscape architecture firm in the Southeast to have LEED Accredited Professionals on staff, we are committed to sustainable solutions. Call us to find out how we can assist you in innovative ways to reduce your water footprint.
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