That does it, I surrender. With the stage 1 water restrictions taking effect Tuesday and the thought of Falls Lake going dry in January, I can’t in good conscience pour thousands of gallons of city water onto my fescue lawn. From now on, whatever water it gets won’t be coming from the tap.
Does that mean I’ll let it wither away? It doesn’t have to mean that. Last weekend I bought a 330 gallon plastic water tank from Craigslist. I’ll be hooking it up soon to the house’s downspouts to collect as much rainwater as will fit. I also hope to tap the stormwater runoff that flows through my yard through the use of a pump, putting it into the tank as well. Everything I can save I will save.
Or, I could drive the tank over to the nearby water treatment plant and fill it up with free reuse water. That would be worth the trip! Or I could finally have my reason for buying my own fire truck, filling its large tank with this reclaimed water and applying it to my yard (and neighbors’ if they ask nicely) with a fire hose. Who says droughts can’t be fun?
There’s also the possibility of a nice tropical storm eventually, though there is none on the horizon during this supposedly hurricane-heavy storm season. Sure would be nice to have three or four days of steady rain (and not have to go to Philadelphia or Charlottesville to get it).
On a related note, I noticed everything in my yard wilted in the record heat except for the bermuda grass I’ve been trying to eliminate. With the changing weather conditions and the threat of future droughts, I may choose to let the Bermuda replace my thirsty, resource-hungry fescue. It just always seems like an uphill battle keeping it green – a battle not worth fighting if it means the tap runs dry in the winter.
[Update] Nothing tells the story better than looking at my weather station’s measured rainfall. This time last year I’ve received ten more inches of rain than this year. Wow, that’s incredible. And incredibly scary.
I never water my fescue lawn. Fescue wants to go dormant when the temps get above 90, so let it. As soon as it cools down a bit, or you get a lot of rain, it’ll come back just fine. It’s far cheaper and easier to overseed in the fall than it is to try to keep a fescue yard green all summer in the south.
I’m getting a back-ache just thinking about trying to move a 330 gallon tank filled with water…..330 X 8.8 = 2904 pounds! Wow…
Scipio Africanus had the only answer. Salt the whole area and enjoy the devastation…
How about the English prescription for the perfect lawn: Good Seed, lots of water, and roll for 300 years…
I’ve not been watering the lawn all summer. It’s not green and lush, but does it really need to be? It’s not dead, either.
Mostly I’ve been doing targeted watering of greenery planted fresh this year like the new apple trees and the raspberries & blackberries.
I think you’re right on hooking up a cistern to the rain gutters. I was actually looking online at those myself about an hour ago.
I’m also going to adjust the floats in my toilets this weekend to use less water per flush.
When I pick up my rain barrels, I’m going to set them up on cinder blocks to try to get a little more water pressure going to the hose.