Water Conservation
If you’re new to the West Texas area, you may be surprised to know that our annual average rainfall is 18 inches. Does that seem like a sufficient amount to support any type of landscape? This is enough rainfall to support a category of plants known as “drought tolerant.” The West Texas area receives most of its precipitation during the summer months. The summer months are also the warmest with average temperatures in the mind 90’s. The highest annual precipitation amount on record occurred in 1941 with 40.55 inches. 1917 recorded the lowest annual precipitation with 8.73 inches. Lubbock experienced its longest ever-dry spell in 1921-1922. It lasted 85 days, from October 7th to January 4th. In more recent history, 2003 was an extremely dry year. The total rainfall for the region was 8.83 inches. During 2003 two severely dry periods without rain occurred. The first period lasted 60 days from November 15th 2003 until January 15th 2004, and the second period lasted 56 days from June 26th until August 22nd.
Simply put, droughts in West Texas are a reality! To maintain a traditional, non-drought tolerant landscape under such harsh environmental conditions requires tremendous amounts of water. Unfortunately, this is a luxury we can no longer afford. With continued growth a certainty for West Texas, we must all learn to use our water resources more conservatively or face increasingly restrictive water rationing in the future.
Fortunately, by selecting native and/or adapted plants for your landscape, you can enjoy beautiful flowering plants, shrubs and trees year 'round without draining either your pocketbook or our local reservoirs. Typically, native and adapted plants, once established, require 80% less water than non-adapted species. Even during our hottest, driest periods, these plants will continue to thrive and bloom with only one or two good soakings per month.
Understand that 40-60% of your water bill is spent on outdoor usage during warm weather periods, switching to a SmartScape™ can save you hundreds of dollars, providing that you reduce your watering accordingly. Proper watering of lawns and plants will go a long way towards ensuring adequate supplies of water for our own needs and those of wildlife.
To find out more about water conservation in West Texas, please click on the links below:
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| City of Lubbock, Public Works | High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No.1 |