On November 15 of this year, Arizona’s share of the Colorado River was finally wrestled away from California. It was a day that water conservationists have been warning about for years.

Today, such warnings have been referred to by others in the water community as “doomsday prophesies” and “hyper-conservative,” all agree that Southern California will face problems due to such cutbacks in the future. In 1986, for example, Arizona will lift 490,000 acre-feet of water into Phoenix and by 1992, that figure is to swell to 1.5 million acre feet.

To quote the Landscape Architecture Foundation: “As a bridge between natural-scientists and land developer-economists the landscape architect must act as an advocate for those attempting to manage our country’s resources more wisely.”

An unwise use of water during these conservative times may be considered to be such aesthetically appealing water effects as reflective lakes, babbling brooks and frothy fountains. “But let’s face it,” said Shinji Nakagawa, a landscape architect with the Peridian Group in Irvine, California, “water helps sell a commercial project.” And isn’t the creation of a marketable project a landscape architect’s responsibility as well?

The question then is this: What is the response to possible water shortages from those landscape architects using water effects in their projects?

The Myth

“I will admit that there are some effects that are extremely water consumptive,” Schardt said. “There’s nothing worse than to see some water features where people have not really done their homework and taken into consideration some things.” One example of a feature that gives these effects bad names, Schardt said, are fountains which have water falling four feet down and a splashing all over the sidewalk that is only one-and-a-half feet away.

“But for the most part, large lakes, ponds and rivers really don’t take a lot more water than if the area was planted and irrigated.”

In a recent study by the Cooperative Extension of the University of California, Riverside, measurements were taken on a monthly basis from cool and warm season turfgrass and a Bureau of Plant Industries pan (BPI). The report showed that water use by cool season turf was 39.8 inches per year compared to 51.2 inches per year of water lost from the BPI pan. Evaporation from turfgrass in this study was 11.4 inches per year less than that of the BPI pan.

The area set aside for a water effect is only going to have returned to it exactly what mother nature will take away from it. Because of such means as automatic fill valves, water effects are able to replenish the evaporated water on a very accurate one to one basis, according to Gibeault.

Built in Elements

There are many elements built into water effects designed to conserve water aside from the ability to re-circulate water. The key factor is flexibility. Fountains, for instance, are built with multiple pumps so that the water can be reduced during critical times, or it can be completely shut off and remain as a pool.

Don Hemry, a landscape architect with the Peridian Group, described many of their concepts as being adopted from Morocco, Africa, where the latitude is nearly the same as Southern California. Pools are kept narrow and shallow utilizing instead beautiful tile and sculptures. Tile, for instance, with a contrasting color scheme of blue and white will set off a sparkle to the water, detracting from its shallow depth. Also, fountains may be designed to drip water, rather than throw large amounts into the air and adjacent surfaces.

A courtyard may be made more interesting with such paving material as brick and tile with a fountain in the middle, avoiding the need for excessive landscaping and maintenance.

Hemry also mentioned water effects such as urban stream beds which have uneven surfaces set on the bottom to help keep motion and noise at a higher level. It is considered an important task of such a water effect to mask other less pleasing outside noises, especially in cities where traffic and street noise are at their loudest.

“Where else might a little stress relieving babbling brook be more appropriate than at a high-rise office building where employees can go for a little peace and quiet,” added Schardt. “And yes, maybe it does take up a little more water, but isn’t the environment it creates worth it?”