Time to think about watering wisely

Do you actually understand how that little box with all of the dials that controls your sprinklers works? Are you trying to figure out if the blades on your lawn mower are sharp enough? I'm sure that these are questions that many of us are thinking about as the weather warms up and we turn on our sprinkler systems. This is a good time to think about how much water your landscape needs in order to be healthy and attractive.

This also happens to be the end of the first official State Water Week for Utah. I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the importance of water here in the second driest state in the country. Water conservation is not just important during periods of drought but must become a way of life for all of us who love living in this amazing state.

Nearly two-thirds of the water we use goes toward the outdoors and, of that, about 50 percent is simply wasted because people use their sprinkler system inefficiently. That is why it is so important to take that extra time to check your sprinkler system now. Take a few extra minutes to check over your sprinkler system for leaks and broken or misaligned sprinkler heads. Tip: You never need to turn on your sprinklers every day in order to have a healthy landscape. In fact, your lawn and yard will be healthier if you water less frequently but more deeply.

It is vital that we use every drop of water wisely. Our state's population is projected to double by the year 2050. The best and cheapest way for us to meet the water needs of our state is through water conservation. In other words, if we all take a few extra minutes around our own homes we can delay or eliminate the need for costly new dams and diversions, such as the Bear River dam, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

So, what can average homeowners do to save water? The Utah Rivers Council has two water-conservation campaigns that provide Utahns with free tools and information to help them save water at their own homes — Rip Your Strip and Smart Sprinkling. The first step to saving water through these campaigns is to visit the Utah Rivers Council at utahrivers.org and take the pledge to Rip Your Strip or practice Smart Sprinkling.

Rip Your Strip provides Utahns with the tools to convert their parking strip or other parts of their yard to a beautiful low-water-use landscape. For those people not ready to get rid of their grass, the council has the Smart Sprinkling campaign. Smart Sprinkling provides homeowners with free, easy to implement, Utah-specific information about how to use sprinkler systems efficiently. Smart Sprinkling will help you have a beautiful, healthy landscape while at the same time saving water and money, and protecting Utah's rivers.

Let's all work to make water conservation a way of life here in Utah. By doing so, we can protect the incredible quality of life that we have come to love and expect.

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Mark Danenhauer is the river solutions coordinator for the Utah Rivers Council.