Landscape Management, September 2009

for rcsidcmial inig a tion systems t hldonado says T hey figure if they cant use them why put them in he says Bur Maldonados COfnll my continues U insl lll systems on commercial sites And C en though the San Antonio 11l3rket has n awar of the efficiencies of drip irrig ation for landSl aI e beds its IXlpularity among property owners remaillS Illuch kSS than Maldonado wishes Its almost nonsensical to diSC11SS the average weather for cent 1 Texas SAWS at a glance says Debonh Cole of Grea tcr T s Landscapes GTI which has loe nions in Austin and San Antonio This is especially true for the regions an n ge temper nun or precipil lrion After all what does average lI Ie3 n in SClte wher Beaumont on the stites humid Gulf CoaSt a erages 55 in of precipil llion annu ally and El Paso in the nx L y Vcst rcccin 10 inches of rain Thats a lot to ask of 3 erage in a b ndmass of 268000 sq miles and a climate that varies dramatically The San Antonio Water System covered 620 SQ mi and as of the end of 2007 served 344261 customers and had a water capacity of 8997 mgd Here is ho v that water was distributed CUSTOMER TYPE NO OF CUSTOMERS CUSTOMER TYPE BY OF WATER DEMAND Residential 321177 9329 5492 Commercial 18575 540 2374 Apa t 3447 100 1549 Industrial 153 004 422 City of San Antonio 008 023 1211 VVhoIesale 7 dJ OI 0211 Bexar Met dJ 01 dJ Ol SAWS Mtrd 113 003 013 s s_ w Future Texas water needs Population in Texas is expected to more than double between the years 2IXXJ and 2000 and demand for water there is expected to increase by 27 Even so the amount to be used for irrigation agricultural and urban is expected to decrease by more than 15 during the same period POPULATION TOTAL DEMANO 11m It IMIGTION DEMAND 1Io 111 2010 149153118 18311828 10345131 2020 29117537 19010876 9900301 2030 33052500 19567048 9585833 20 0 36893267 20104592 9200620 20511 41071 409 20 58602 8843094 2000 45588282 21617274 8559244 18 LANOSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET SEPTEMBER 2009 WATER WISE 2009 with 10 rt COgniza blc climatc divisions Cole 51YS You work with the cather lexas b CS you whieh can be just about anything including drought People ha e finally Iccidcd its OK to have things in their b ndscapcs othcr than grass and other green plants Cole says For years wc c had a hard timc trying tocom nce pt Ople to collsi lcr options orner than grass They didnt undcrstand we werent talking about JUSt rocks and C lctlIS Now peoplc are beb nning to see were able to do crcative th ings with different texturc and t O lors of material induding rocks boulders and gravels and the many native and adaptcd phlnlS that are now readily 1V lilable Cote S 1YS At tUall wevc had nurse ries supplying beautiful native and droughttole Jnt plantlTlaterial for years thanks to thc late Lady Bird Johnson and hcr lovc of wildflowcrs she adds But as hcalthy as the G n Industry remains in the st lle in spite of the drought its long tenn future is problematic If water authorities and local poli ricians dont address the water needs of thcir citics growing IXlpub rions and de clopment some industries will almost cerrainly be dcnied access to fresh wltcr First on that list could very well be irrigfltion for landscapes and n rfg lss says Mab tag lI1 At tl 13I1y he says the stakes are much b l eater than that Jlced the words of the Te as Vater Dcvelopmcnt Boards 2007 Vater Plan in assessing thc Sl Itcs potential wflter shortf 1 11s Nt Cds of this maguirude arc projected to COSt bus inesses and workcrs lIpproxinmdy 91 billion worth of income in 2010 By 2060 this figure increases to roughly S984 billion Fort rune Sl ItC and 10Cl1 business t IXCS associatcd with lost t OImncrcc are projected to 311l0unt to 466 million 10tO d S54 b l1 o 1060