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Blanding City Offices Water-wise Landscape Retrofit
Project Lead: Jake Powell
Fast Facts
- Year: 2019
- Client: Blanding City
- Outcomes: Water wise landscape design and planting plan, preliminary city park water assessment.
- Status: Complete
- Project Size: 0.5 acres
- Project Scale: Site
- Impacts: The design provided the vision that focuses $9,404.80 of Extension Water Initiative funding with another $9,500 of cash and in-kind support from Blanding City to install the landscape (Planned for the Fall of 2020) The landscape provides a tangible example of how a landscape can be adjusted to be more water conscious while remaining functional and pleasing. This project will provide the city with real data to begin to educate its water users on the costs and benefits of water conservation.
Project Summary
LAEP Extension worked with the City of Blanding to modify the landscape in front of their city offices to provide an example of the principles and benefits of water wise landscape design. This design helps the city model water conservation efforts they hope to further share with the community at large.
Project Description
Blanding City is working on a progressive approach to adjusting water rates based on availability in an effort to conserve this limited resource, critical to the future of this high desert community. The city hopes to become a model of water conservation and approached USU LAEP Extension for assistance transforming the area in front of their city office from a traditional, pure turf landscape to a more water efficient landscape. LAEP Extension staff worked with city staff and officials to identify needed improvements and provided a series of concept landscape plans. One of these concepts was selected and went through a series of subsequent revisions based on city staff feedback. The final concept was provided to Blanding City and they are working to remove the old landscape and install a more water wise landscape with associated interpretive signage.
During the design process the city also requested assistance to look at current city parks to assess the potential for water savings through re-designing low aesthetic, high water use areas of the parks. As part of this effort a water audit was demonstrated to city parks and maintenance staff on Blanding’s Welcome Park. During the audit it was estimated that the sprinklers were over watering by 15% in the particular park. Training of the city staff to conduct their own water audit and training regarding sprinkler timing and efficiency adjustments empowered city staff to make future adjustments to their systems. The project instigated the development of a series of workshops planned for the community that have been transitioned into the Design 4 Everyone online resource.
