Landscape Architect Articles

Should Landscape Architects Pack Their Bags and Leave for Wetter Climes?07-10-15 | News

Should Landscape Architects Pack Their Bags and Leave for Wetter Climes?

Buck Abbey, ASLA
The Green Laws Organization
New Orleans, Louisiana

"The State Water Resources Control Board shall impose restrictions to achieve
a statewide 25% reduction to potable urban water usage"?(R)?."
Governor Brown, Executive Order B-29-15

Originating in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne River flows 149 miles westward through the Sierra Nevada foothills before converging with the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. On April 1, 2015, the California Dept. of Water Resources measured the statewide water content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack at five percent of average for this date.

Landscapes & Water
In its fourth year of drought, water consumption in California is coming to a screeching halt. Landscapes consume a large percentage of an urban resident's annual water use. Some estimates show this to be as high as 50 percent of household use. A 2007 University of California Santa Cruz study indicated that even with a controlled landscape irrigation system and winter shut off time, 27 percent of potable water use went toward landscaping. Uncontrolled residential irrigation is a problem in California, particularly when it comes to growing water thirsty lawns.

Residential usage will have to be reduced from approximately 216 gallons per person per day to approximately 77 gallons per day under the new regulations. Since average indoor use is approximately 55 gallons per person per day according to the Water Use Control Board, some 22 gallons per day is available to be used outdoors. Any overage must come from harvested or recycled indoor water.

Governor Brown and the State Water Resources Control Board are demanding a 25 percent statewide emergency drought reduction; much of the savings will come from minimizing water use in the landscape. The state statute Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MELO) has been changed to further limit the amount of landscape area. Water restrictions will cause a severe impact to the California garden industry.

The sale of lawnmowers and all types of garden maintenance equipment will be reduced. Grass growers, irrigation equipment manufactures, yard chemical supply sales and indeed designers, contractors and maintenance companies will suffer. Unfathomed economic impacts are about to befall the green industry that relies upon water to keep gardens green.

Should landscape architects pack their bags and leave the state for wetter climes? The answer is no, and here are five reasons why.

Grass can no longer be used as a green carpet. As Calif. Gov. Brown recently said, "Our green lawns are in the past." Landscape architect must design with living material in a restricted way. For instance, grass could be used as a central garden feature if used sparingly and in bold geometric patterns. Figure: Abbey Associates

Irrigation Law
Landscape architects understand irrigation law, irrigation design and water control better than any other design professional. As water law has changed, their skill in the interpretation of the law has allowed them to refine their knowledge, and through creative design find a suitable response to water minimization, while still being able to use a high range of plant material.

In the early 1990s Assembly Bill 325 Water Conservation in Landscaping Act became law. In January 1993, the very complex Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (WELO) was enacted. By January 1, 2010 this law was to be included in every landscape code in the state. Its many "water wise" concepts revolutionized the irrigation design skills of designers. This code requires designing to a calculated water budget, the use of water zoning, green irrigation systems and preparation of a complete and specific reviewable package of landscape plans and calculations. Water barrels assist. Separate water meters are required. Heavy fines and threatened rising water bills will enforce water conservation.

In 2004, AB 2717 improved efficiency of water use further. Recommendations changed the "ET adjustment factor," monitoring compliance with WELO, promoting the use of recycled water, harvested stormwater and use of smart irrigation controllers.

In 2006, AB 1881 mandated that the Water Conservation in Landscaping Act, California Civil, Chapter 2, Division 1, Title 7, Chapter 559, Art. 10.8, ???(R)???AE???? 65591 be updated to bring water saving ideas into common landscape practices across the state.

Creative Talents
That water for gardening is a severe problem points out another important reason why landscape architects in California must stay and not go. With their education, training, problem solving skills and creative talent they must conceive a new type of garden appropriate to the soils, moisture regime and climate. Their ability to capture and manage onsite storm water, or even work with grey water is just one way they can reduce the use of potable water for landscape gardens.

Gone is the Lawn
Grass can no longer be used as a green carpet. As Calif. Gov. Brown recently said, "Our green lawns are in the past." Landscape architect must design with living material in a restricted way.

Manteca, California is providing rebates to residents up to $1 a square foot to remove grass. Santa Barbara has cut water use by 22 percent, and leads the state in water conservation. The city will pay half the cost of materials to remove the grass and plant something else.

Help Rewrite Local Green Laws
Landscape architects can assist cities in rewriting their green laws. Manteca is but one community presently revising their landscape code (Manteca Municipal Code, Title 17 Zoning, Art III Site Planning Standards, Chap/ 17.48 Landscaping, ???(R)???AE???? 17.48.010) to reduce the size of their minimum landscape area requirement and the use of highly irrigated lawn grass. Mulch will be used more and all site rainfall must be harvested.

In Ogden, Utah planning officials are considering amending the community landscape ordinance (Title 15 Zoning, Chap. 13, ???(R)???AE???? 15-13-16) to allow artificial grass as an allowable ground cover for lawns within the city.

Manufactured grass, first called "chemgrass' in the 1960s, uses plastics, polyester, nylon, polypropylene and rubber compounds; hardly a natural product. Artificial grass is not the answer.

Landscape Sustainability
The fifth reason landscape architects should stay in California and not pack their bags is they are needed to change the basis of landscape code technology. Local California green laws must be rewritten to embrace the use of sustainable landscaping principles. Since water management, native soils, biomass standards and native plants are all central to sustainability, all Southwest gardens should be designed following these principles.

California leads the nation in sustainable design, especially for green buildings. Irvine pioneered the first sustainable landscape code in 1976 (Sustainability in Landscaping Ordinance, Code 1976, ???(R)???AE???? V.G-100; Ord. No. 90-12, ???(R)???AE???? 2, 6-26-90). Now the challenge is to incorporate the SITESTM principles in all local landscape laws as suggested by the recently released report Guidance for Federal Agencies on Sustainable Practices for Designed Landscapes prepared by the White House Office of Environmental Quality.

Water is critical for urban living, and so is landscape design. The talents of California landscape architects and demand for their services will increase, not decline. There is no need to pack your bags. You are needed more than ever to convert a green landscape to one that is golden.

Should may contact the author at lsugreenlaws@aol.com, or call Abbey Associates Landscape Architecture (225) 766-0922.