Liquid Assets -- part 2

There is a hidden cost to drought beyond the toll on animals, plants, and humans. In the absence of great amounts of water, pollutants become concentrated and turn what water there is into a toxic liquid. Even fairly harmless natural minerals can become deadly poisons at high concentrations. In the hot and arid lands of the Southwest, rivers and lakes become poisonously salty as the hot and dry air evaporates their water and leaves behind the minerals.

Most of us have heard the lectures and have seen the brochures about what we can do to improve water quality in our communities. During times of drought, it's important to emphasize these practices to help keep what little water there is from further contamination.

Your property deals with water in four basic ways: it collects water into pools, it absorbs water, it sheds water into a creek/river/storm drain, or you remove water yourself via the sewer lines. Although you may think of yourself as being uninvolved with the process, in fact you are the one who determines water quality for your little corner of the planet, no matter how modest it is.

Are your lawn habits hurting your soil's ability to keep water? The single thing that helps most here is mulch. The very best mulch for your lawn is grass clippings. We have a mulching lawnmower while our neighbor uses a lawn service to mow their yard - a service that includes bagging the cuttings. We both water at about the same frequency. But our lawn is greener than the neighbors' because the mulched clippings protect the soil from the hot Texas sun.

During times of drought you should limit your use of pesticides and fertilizers. Remember that puddles of water in street gutters and alleys are sometimes the only convenient source of water for birds and animals in your neighborhood. Add pesticides and fertilizer to the pollutants swept in from the roads, and that puddle of water becomes a toxic brew.

Even things that are normally handled well by the environment become problems during times of drought. Animal feces, ordinary garden chemicals, even the water from washing your car become a problem for the watershed.

If you own several dogs, the best way to clean up your yard during the dry season is to scoop that poop and landfill it. You can compost manure - but it needs to be done properly.

The same things apply if you have a pond or stream on your property or if water on your land runs into a storm sewer. None of this water runs through a sewage/water treatment plant (which does remove common pollutants from the water.) ALL pesticides and fertilizers washed off your property enter the water system directly.

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