I read somewhere that Box Elder county has the highest per capita use of water in Utah. I have no idea if this accurate, nor can I quickly find the data again. Box Elder county is very agricultural, which is were a lot of our water goes. I am not living or working on a farm, so this is not about the agricultural use of water. This is about the stupid use of residential culinary and secondary water in Brigham City.

In my previous apartment and in my current home, we had a water turn. This is a very old system of taking turns using ditch water. In a residential area, I think this is becoming almost unheard of. Many cities switch over to a pressurized secondary irrigation system, which make sense. Landscapes are currently designed to work on some sort of already pressurized irrigation.

I think water turns are fine, but the design of our landscape has to follow suit. Wide expanses of lawn aren’t going to fit everywhere, because water will only flow downhill unless it is physically moved or pumped. Currently, I can see based on irrigation water where I would want my lawn, where I want more water-wise mixed beds, where I can grow veggies. I could grow everything I want using only my secondary water turn, with the right design. But not right now. In order to maintain a good state of landscape maintenance (and I’m not, most of my grass is not green), I have to use culinary water.

Here’s our current irrigation set-up while running

I think most people have just switched over to using culinary water for the majority or all of their landscape, even if they have access to an irrigation turn. There are a few innovators out there who take a more full advantage of the secondary system.  There are also a lot of people who don’t use the water at all. At both places where I have had an irrigation turn, I was supposed to have a one hour turn. The next person in line for the water will switch off my water to get to their property. When it’s midnight, you got out once to turn on the irrigation water, not to turn it off. I would expect someone down the line coming and getting it, but when I wake up the irrigation is still running on my property. People are clearly not taking their turn.

So right now Brigham City has a secondary irrigation system that isn’t widely used. Because it isn’t widely used a lot of water is wasted going down gutters or over-irrigating areas. Brigham City also has tons of culinary water that is getting drenched onto lawns in order to maintain a certain appearance, not for any sort of production. If there is ever a water shortage in Brigham City, it is not because there is a lack of water. It is because the water is used so poorly.

We live in place with only 18″ of rain a year, and yet we try to maintain these landscapes that would only naturally function in a much more humid environment. It’s madness. So if anyone wants to know why my grass is crunchy right now, it’s because I’m not going to just follow the stupidity out there of wasting water just to maintain a green, never-used lawn. I know I live in a dry environment, and I’m going to act like it, even if no-one else does.

My thoughts now are how do I design my landscape? I can see a huge benefit of Brigham City switching to a pressurized secondary irrigation system. It would help both culinary and secondary water be used much more efficiently. It might happen someday, although I doubt there are immediate plans or funding.

But I would be fine with a water turn. I’m not stuck in wanting wide swaths of green lawn. I can design my landscape to use only secondary water as irrigation, with the present system. But should I pursue that route, or rather look forward and push for a day with pressurized secondary irrigation? I probably will design my landscape around my irrigation turn, if only to show people how to take advantage of that resource. If we did take advantage of the current system, it would be more effective and efficient that switching to a different system.

What I do hope for, if nothing else, is that people start at least wanting to take responsibility for our water use. It is an awesome, valuable resources, and if we waste it, it won’t always be there.