On the eve of the elections, Moscow City officials turned their attention away from their debates to focus on ways to promote voluntary water management.
Moscow City Mayor Bill Lambert presented the Wisescape Awards Monday, which are meant to both encourage and demonstrate sustainable landscaping.
“I got excited about this,” Lambert said. “It”s becoming more and more of the (norm). We”re seeing a lot of places around town that have these that have not been nominated that are within that realm.”
Lambert presented awards to residents Victoria Seever, Pam Steele and David and Jan Jerusalem, and to local organizations and businesses, including the 1912 Center, the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse and Fairfield Inn and Suites.
Nicole Baker, a Moscow city water conservation specialist, said the awards essentially aim to recognize those in the community who save water through their landscaping choices.
Baker said the Moscow-Pullman area”s two aquifers, the Wanapum aquifer and the Grand Ronde aquifer, can only provide so much water. She said soil enhancements, proper plant selection and modern irrigation are among the methods that make up wisescaping.
Baker said wisescaping is both cheaper and easier for people – once they learn how and get their landscape established. She said their recommendations are specifically tailored to local needs.
Baker said normally it would be easy for people to simply use more economical spray heads.
“But they don”t stand up to the Palouse wind,” Baker said.
So instead, they recommend drip irrigation, a method that uses tubes to distribute water directly to plants.
The University of Idaho”s arboretum and the Intermodal Transit Center located on UI”s campus are among landscapes employing wisescaping recommendations. Baker said she particularly likes the transit center, which creatively uses wisescaping in tricky areas like thin strips that would be difficult to maintain otherwise.
“The fact that they did something different and still its still beautiful and provides shade is great,” Baker said.
Baker said the water conservation helps individuals as well as the city, and that wisescaping has benefits besides the economic savings.
She said drip irrigation not only wastes less water, but also looks cleaner and helps users follow city code by avoiding watering impervious surfaces like sidewalks and roads.
Baker said a combination of mulch and drip irrigation also allows for easy and effective weed prevention.
Nishant Mohan can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NishantRMohan