It's Time To Start Watering Smarter

It’s summer and every year this season gets more intense – hotter, drier, wetter, or all of these things (which is what we’ve had in southern Arizona). Unfortunately, with the lack of public will and clear-cut actionable solutions, these climate-change effects are with us to stay. Which means it’s time to re-evaluate how we water.

I recently spent some time house-sitting for a family member who has some substantial plantings around the property. When I began my sojourn there, we were experiencing extreme heat and the watering chores were focused on dealing with that. But within a few days, we had some intensely powerful monsoon storms, the ground was waterlogged, and flash floods were happening. This sudden change made my caretaking duties less obvious and more stressful. To water or not to water was and continues to be the big question. Luckily, there are answers, especially in a well-though-out watering plan. 

All watering strategies should come from an understanding that water resources are finite and the only way to maintain a healthy garden long-term is by using less water. Or by watering smarter. Many municipalities (especially in the drought-stricken West) have or are considering putting restrictions on water use, so you will be ahead of the game when planning to water properly but less. The mantra to follow should be: “Water as much as needed while using as little as possible”. To that end, here are some guidelines:

 - HOW TO WATER - 

WATER EARLY IN THE MORNING, OR MAYBE IN THE EVENING – Watering in the daytime is simply wasteful as you lose a good bit of it to evaporation, especially in summer. Here in Arizona, we discourage evening watering because that is when water use is at its highest. But it can be done safely then or even later at night due to our dry conditions. In more humid climates, you run the risk of welcoming disease if your plants are put to bed with wet leaves. These are also favorable conditions for snails to make themselves at home. It’s probably best to just water in the morning – and in the hottest places this can be as early as before dawn. 

MULCH AND MULCH SOME MORE – Where possible, add mulch around your plants to help hold water in, reduce runoff, and lower the surface soil temperature. Avoid coco peat, however, as it will hold the water and makes a soggy mess that can encourage disease. 

WATER SLOWLY, DEEPLY AND THOROUGHLY – You don’t want to squander water on leaves where it will evaporate rapidly, especially since plants need water most in their root zones. In general, water needs to move 6”-12” into the soil to get to the roots and this can take more than a couple of minutes, so soak slowly (soaker hoses work well when monitored carefully). Or water some, walk away and water elsewhere, and then come back to water more. Watering deep in the soil encourages plant roots to grow down, creating stronger and healthier root systems.  In our recent storms, a lot of large trees have fallen and many of these were the victims of quick and shallow watering. They had responded to this type of watering by developing wide-spread, surface level roots that aren’t able to hold up to heavy rain or strong winds. 

USE A WATERING CAN AND NOT A HOSE – 

I realize that this may not be practical in all situations, but it’s a good strategy to use when you are able. A watering can delivers targeted water where you want it with less spray lost to mist. The use of a well-placed soaker hose is an exception to this rule. 

 - HOW MUCH WATER TO USE – 

YOU SHOULD PROBABLY BE USING LESS WATER THAN YOU ARE – According to this EPA article, landscaping typically requires one inch of water a week. But that seems rather arbitrary to me and definitely too much in many circumstances. Rather than seeking a way to make sense of the amount of water you use, it’s far better to consider ways to cut down. Xeriscape practices have been popular in southern Arizona for decades but is no longer just for desert communities. With xeriscaping you can have the beautiful landscaping you want – with less yard maintenance - while reducing water and fertilizer usage, embracing native species, and improving the soil.

STRETCH YOUR RAIN RESOURCES – People have been using grey water on gardens since gardens were invented and it’s still a good idea. Collecting and harvesting rainwater is also nothing new, but surprisingly few people take advantage of this literal gift from the heavens. Although they are nice, you do not need a fancy collection system; you can start small with buckets or something similar (just be sure to use the water and not let it sit and become a mosquito breeding ground). If your rainstorm is a gentle one, push your container plants out so they can get the good stuff straight from the sky. Lightning-packed rain events can be a little terrifying, but they offer more than water as the lightning can help deliver nitrogen into the soil (and your plants love that). That doesn’t mean that you should go out amongst lightning strikes to put out your favorite potted plant, but it does mean that what you have growing out there is appreciating the charge they’re getting. If you have recently received a lot of rainfall, do not continue to water as usual, wait until the soil has dried out. Turn off the irrigation and re-evaluate. This especially true in arid places where plants are adapted to dry soil. Keep in mind that over-watering can kill as surely as too little watering can.

The bottom line is we all have to use less water. It’s that simple. However, we still need plants in our world, so it’s on us to figure out as individuals the best way to manage our small part of the world. If everyone was a careful steward of their tiny part, the whole world would grow healthier and stronger. So, when you save a little rainwater, think of yourself as an environmental crusader – you have to start somewhere.

Take Care

Submitted by Pam

 

A River's Story

The Santa Cruz River 2019

Many of the great cities of the world (London, New York, Paris) have rivers that run through them and are the throbbing hearts of their existence. Here in Tucson we also have a river, the Santa Cruz, which holds enormous historical, cultural, environmental and identity value to Southern Arizona. However, its heartbeat is erratic at best. Some of the reasons for this are natural, while others echo problems that rivers face around the globe: overuse and a changing environment. The Santa Cruz also has to deal with the Mexico-US border, a man-made obstacle that our little river has to contend with just like its monster-sized, better known neighbors to the east and west – the Rio Grande and the Colorado rivers.

Quirky is an excellent adjective to use when describing the Santa Cruz. It is certainly fitting when one looks at how and where it flows during its 184 mile journey. It starts in southeastern Arizona and heads south into modern-day Mexico. Once there, it ambles around for about 12 miles and then makes a U-turn and heads north and back into the US. This route is one that many Americans generally take (go to Mexico, wander around and come right back), but it is unusual for a river. There are very few rivers that make a south to north U-turn and the Santa Cruz is the only river in the US to cross the international border twice. There is a map that shows what it’s doing around the border.

A Hohokam canal incorporated into a "new" canal in 1907.

Tucson is one of the longest continually inhabited places in North America and, like other riverside cities and towns, it was the river that drew them here and nourished them. The Hohokam were here 4,000 years before any Europeans and built massive and sophisticated irrigation systems to harness the water of the Santa Cruz. Sometime between 1350 and 1450, the archaeological record of the Hohokam disappears; but their waterworks lived on and were cleaned out and used by others for hundreds of years. The Tohono O’Odham of today are their descendants and they carry on the traditional stewardship of the land and water.

The White Dove of the Desert

Starting in the first half of the 16th century, Spanish Conquistadors began marching around Arizona looking for lost cities of gold and other treasures. None of them stuck around, though; the landscape and natives being equally unfamiliar and hostile to them. It wasn’t until the last decade of the 1600s that an outsider came to stay, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. He established missions in the native settlements along the Santa Cruz at Tumacácori and San Xavier del Bac. The church at San Xavier was not completed until after Father Kino’s death but it stands as a breathtaking tribute to those who founded, worked and still work the mission. While the Tumacácori is now a national park, San Xavier remains a greatly treasured and carefully guarded part of everyday Tohono O’odham life.

And now back to the quirky factor: how Tucson was “founded” by an Irishman. In 1775, a Dublin-born man named Hugh O’Conor rode into town. A Colonel in the Spanish army, Hugh was tasked with finding a suitable spot for a new outpost. He chose a spot under Sentinel Peak that native people had inhabited for 1,000s of years and declared they would build a presidio there. They did and the walls are still there - smack dab in the middle of downtown Tucson, which has made for some interesting time juxtaposition moments when researchers dig among office workers. His original proclamation still resides at the National Archives of Mexico.

Silver Lake, Tucson 1888

Fast forward to the 1850s, when yet another set of newcomers decided to claim and change the habitat around the Santa Cruz. Virginians William and Alfred Rowlett build a dam downstream from Sentinel Peak. Known as Silver Lake, by the 1880s, this lake covered several acres and hosted numerous cultural and recreational activities. The family type entertainment value began to wane toward the end of the decade as a rougher element began to move in - this was, after all, the height of the cowboy-gunslinger era in the Southwest. A series of floods had damaged and, then completely wiped out, the dam by 1900. Today, on the corner of Silverlake and Mission roads, you can find the Pima County Jail.

 

An empty Santa Cruz

Not a nuclear explosion, just a monsoon in AZ

The turn of the century also meant a turn in the health of the Santa Cruz. By the 1940s, it had run dry due to overuse and, after that, the only time people would see water in it was during our monsoons. Summer monsoons and the floods that come with them have always been a necessary and normal part of the life of the river. But, as more water has been diverted from it and natural drainage systems paved over, water has become a damaging force for the infrastructure of the river itself and the land and people around it. Water comes down hard, fills up the river quickly and drains out just as quickly. In between the coming down and draining out, a lot of damage can be done.

 

Tucson, October 1983

During the floods of 1983, a result  of Tropical Storm Octave, the Santa Cruz experienced the highest crest ever recorded. The sheer volume and power of the water caused 2-3 foot waves on the surface and splashed over bridges as it roiled by. Often called the “100-year flood”, this episode opened many people’s eyes to the fact that the dry riverbed they had become used to was in fact a dangerous river.

 As demands on the river and climate change have kept the Santa Cruz dry, many people have fought valiantly to get the river and its ecosystem up and running again. Organizations such as The Sonoran Institute (who ARBICO donates to and supports), Friends of the Santa Cruz and The Santa Cruz River Heritage Project have made real progress. In June of this year, in a part of the river, water began flowing again – for the first time in 70 years. Fish (including the newly-released endangered Gila topminnow) and other wildlife are now beginning to thrive in the river. There is a long way to go to bring back the past glory of the Santa Cruz, and it is probably not reasonable to expect that. But, our beloved river is still there and it looks like it will be beyond our lifetimes.

Submitted by Pam

We Love Our Monsoons.

Summer in Arizona: ridiculously hot days, wild monsoon storms, terrifying haboobs, exquisite sunsets and all sorts of critters out wandering around. It is not a time for the faint-of-heart. But, for us true desert creatures, this is the best time of year. The primordial joy of rain after extended months of dryness is shared by flora, fauna, humans and insects alike.

What we call monsoon season runs from late June through September. Our storms are caused by a seasonal shift in winds that draws moisture-rich air from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico up into Arizona. This air hits the super-hot air in the valleys and shoots up the mountains into the atmosphere. Once there, it builds and builds until it rolls back down as an action-packed storm. Watching the storms build is a favorite pastime of all us Arizonans, but the changes they bring to desert are life-affirming.
Desert dwellers, of all species, can sense and smell the rain as it’s coming. This earthy smell of rain as it lands on dry soil is called petrichor. In Tucson, where I live, we also recognize the beguiling scent of the creosote bush.

 Contributed by Valerie @ ARBICO Organics

Monsoon rains provide almost everything in the ecosystem with renewed life. Plants green up and fruit ripens, providing food for mammals, birds and insects. All this additional fodder makes this the ideal time for mating, so the parade of mating creatures comes out during monsoons. Arizona is ranked 3rd in the country for biodiversity by The Nature’s Conservancy and, at times, it seems like they are all out after a good, hard rain. Lizards, snakes, beetles, arachnids, toads and mammals come to feed and mate. This is the only time to see our most publicity-shy desert dwellers, as they stay hidden the rest of the year.

At the top of the list of spectacular monsoon creatures is the Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum). These lumbering beasts are the largest lizards in North America and can grow up to 2 feet long. They are one of only two venomous lizards in North America and the other, the Mexican beaded lizard, is a close relative. Gila Monsters spend 90% of their time in underground burrows and only emerge after rains to drink, bathe and mate. It is during this search for a partner, when their biological impulses outweigh their natural reticence, that people run into them. This year has been an active one for Gila Monster sightings - we had one crawling across our office parking lot one day, a co-worker had two loudly mating in her driveway and my Facebook feed has been full of pictures of Gila Monsters in garages, on porches and by swimming pools.

Gila Monster

What The Heck Is That Monstrosity?

I recently had a knee injury and was ordered to stay off it for a couple of weeks. During my forced vacation, I spent most of my time on the living room couch. From that vantage point, I could watch the dogs going about their business in the backyard. 

One evening I noticed that Bob, our large Shar-Pei/Lab mix, was acting strangely. He was dancing around, jumping and pawing at something on the ground. He looked exactly like a fox hunting for mice under the snow. You could almost see the thought bubbles over his head saying, “What the heck is that monstrosity?”.

Bob is generally a dignified and somber older gentleman and this behavior was decidedly unusual for him. So, ignoring the admonishments of my family to stay put, I hopped over to the door to see what had poor old Bob so upset. 


What I saw made me laugh – Bob had come across a particularly large Palo Verde Beetle. I have seen large humans freak out when they see these bugs, so it was perfectly acceptable to me that our dog would go bananas over it. As I stood there laughing, Bob took one more manly leap and crushed the beetle, then quickly ate it. What had been funny was suddenly just gross.

Palo Verde Beetle - Photo courtesy of Jen Ragan