Water Conservation and the Climate Action Plan

The 2022 Climate Action Plan (CAP) is a progressive step forward towards carbon reduction in landscape architecture, design, and construction. A follow-up document to the CAP was created in 2023 titled “Collaborating with Industry Partners on Climate Action and Biodiversity” as a guide to ask questions of all industry partners (manufacturers, plant growers, and material sourcing) what practices they employee prior to landscape architects specifying their product or service. While the CAP and “Collaborating” follow up is primarily focused on carbon (embodied and emitted), another key resource to measure, track, and inquire about is water consumption. This presentation explores further ways in which irrigation can be designed, manufactured, installed, and operated in a manner consistent with the goals of the CAP. Discussion points to include irrigation and water metering, water budgeting for drought, climate adaptivity, alternative water supplies, regional requirements, and passive irrigation methods. The goal of this discussion is to draw a parallel in the CAP’s carbon accounting method with water accounting and highlighting the benefits of sustainable irrigation beyond green plants, such as stormwater management, heat island reduction, and carbon sequestration.