Grounds management needs water. No matter the type or extent of plants we manage, plants need water to thrive and survive. For some, irrigation systems can supply or augment the water necessary to maintain our chosen crops. Others are reliant on a combination of natural or delivered water. Regardless of where/how you draw your water, it all ultimately comes from rainfall or groundwater. These are intertwined in sometimes complex ways but that is basically it. So how do I deal with the need for water? And more importantly, am I being a good steward for this precious, essential resource? I know I need a water management plan that harmonizes with my local hydrologic system. But what is the deal with landscape water and why is it important?

My Backyard Water Situation
Lawrence is in Kansas, but like most states, Kansas is not a uniform environment. Our slice of Midwest heaven is on the northeast edge of the central irregular plains and is classified as Osage-Cuestas. The flora of this area is mixed tallgrass prairie and Oak-Hickory woodland. Both these plant types are well adapted to the volatile Kansas weather but especially tallgrass prairie plants. Trees largely lived in bottom lands and in riparian areas. Trees elsewhere were usually in savannah type settings and opportunistic based on microenvironments. Lawrence Kansas average annual precip is 35.58”.  But as we all know averages can be deceiving. Right now, we are 3.92” low for the year and are in D1 drought (U.S. Drought Monitor). And since much of our year-to-date rainfall fell earlier in the year, we are acutely behind the last 2 months, which just happened to be the hottest time of the year.

Water Stress and My Campus
Our campus receives enough rainfall to keep plants alive. Well, most plants. But the rainfall is unpredictable despite annual averages. Because rainfall is irregular there are times when plants exhibit the normal and expected signs/symptoms of water stress. Flagging plants, less than robust flowering, slowed establishment, etc. should all be expected when plants thirst for necessary water. Both the plants and I expect this to happen. Sound water management measures applied water and rations it out in order to activate the plant’s natural water conservation responses. As any utility-turf manager knows plants can get “lazy”. This applies to flowers, shrubs and trees also. Selecting plants that are either native, thus adapted to an areas water condition, or acclimated, will go a long way to diminishing the negative consequences of drought.

How Do We Water Right Now?
Automatic irrigation is applied only to several very small properties on our campus. We do have irrigation infrastructure underground over about 50% of our main campus but this is largely derelict due to age, disrepair, and disuse. The decision to irrigate is not practicable at this time. Any new systems would at best require significant investment, and at worst require total overhaul or completely new installation including meters and water sourcing. I do not think moving our campus toward irrigation is the right thing from a grounds management perspective, nor do I think there is will to do it by the University. In some areas we are able to use the main irrigation piping to run quick connects for hand watering and sprinklers but again this is only in some spots. Bibs off our buildings are available but stretched out. Occasionally where available some bibs are inoperable. When these are located, we submit service request for repairs. Our most flexible watering is performed with a 200-gallon tank on a pickup. This is largely effective, but not very efficient. All of our water is sourced from potable/domestic supply.

Water Wise
Many grounds management tasks are somewhat mysterious to our community. Everyone knows water is essential for a beautiful, healthy campus but the processes girding sound irrigation are not widely understood. Communication, and educating the campus about sound watering, should be a regular part of our work. Monitoring water use is vital also. Our campus Energy Manager notifies us of excess water usage concerns allowing us to investigate. Record keeping is useful but often slips down prioritization needs. Sharing rainfall data could be useful too. We Grounds Managers are well placed to contribute to reasonable water conservation on campus.