Watering Restrictions 2011 (Houston, San Antonio, Ennis: buying, landlord, live)

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by Bo

Xeriscaping is not for everyone. A couple of my neighbors did that. One maintains their landscape meticulously. It's rare to see a weed or more than a couple of leaves on that lot.

The other neighbor hires someone to tend their lot about twice a year. In the meantime, they let weeds and leaves accumulate all over their crushed granite. Great savings for the neighbor. Not so attractive for the neighborhood. I liked it better when they had to mow.

Xeriscape doesn't mean all cactus and crushed granite. There are many many beautiful native and/or drought tolerant plants that are wonderful. And while any grass will require some water, planting it only where it's used (ie for kids to run and play) and planting a drought tolerant variety will save a lot of water.
And look at other ways to save water - set up rain barrels for collection when it does rain. Collect washing machine water. Take shorter showers. use low-flow toilets and shower heads. Lots and lots of very simple things.

[doss1]

Snakes LOVE Xeriscape landscaping

[Trivet The Fool]

Bring on the drought! I've got about a mile (no, I'm not exaggerating) of soaker hose and bamboo drip laid out.

[Mom2Feebs]

call me a watering novice, but could someone tell me how to use a soaker hose? It sounds like an appealing idea. Do you just use it in beds?

[plwhit]

I've often thought of replacing my lawn with astro turf. Be green all year, never have to water..

Never again get that soft whoops feeling of stepping in a fire ant mound....

[TexasRedneck]

M2F's - soaker hoses are generally used in flower beds and around foundations. Place a length of it w/a square-sided pan under it, turn on the water and time it. Then see how long it takes it to put the amount of water you want into the pan (i.e., 1/2", 1", etc.). That will tell you how long to leave it going for the desired effect. Be sure it's a square-sided pan, though - if it's angled (like a pie pan), the angled areas will give you an inaccurate reading. Cake pans work well, though...

[tony78201]

so san antonio gets its water from just one place, the edwards aquifer? I've been reading on how houston and dallas get their water, and they have different lakes, surface, and underground water.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by tony78201

so san antonio gets its water from just one place, the edwards aquifer? I've been reading on how houston and dallas get their water, and they have different lakes, surface, and underground water.

True.....and the locals will tell you the water tastes like bovine excrement and pressure is often so low that most commercial establishments have booster pumps.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by tony78201

so san antonio gets its water from just one place, the edwards aquifer? I've been reading on how houston and dallas get their water, and they have different lakes, surface, and underground water.

No. There are two water utilities serving San Antonio, SAWS and Bexar Met. According to BexarMet Water District - Our Water Resources

BexarMet draws upon the following water resources:

• Edwards Aquifer
• Trinity Aquifer
• Carrizo Aquifer
• Medina River / Medina Lake
• Lake Dunlap
• Canyon Lake

And according to San Antonio Water System: Water Resource Projects, SAWS has the following:

Existing Water Resources
Edwards Aquifer
Twin Oaks Aquifer Storage and Recovery
Recycled Water
Trinity Aquifer
Western Canyon Project

Future Water Supply Projects
Recharge Initiative
Brackish Water Desalination
Regional Carrizo Project
LCRA-SAWS Water Supply Project
Ocean Water Desalination

[doss1]

I worked with an engineering firm that did brackish water desalination into drinking water...basically that's taking sewer water and making it drinkable.

No thanks. I dig my own water well.