by Gail Hutchison

Looking out at Lake Monona’s 28 billion gallons of water, canoing through the Monona Wetlands Conservancy, and watching the 100-plus inches of snow pile up since December — Monona seems so water-rich it’s easy to take our water supply for granted. You wouldn’t think we need to worry about our life-sustaining water. But we do.

The aquifers providing Dane County with all of its drinking water (50 million gallons per day) are being drawn down. With increasing population growth and business expansion, our natural hydrologic system is being dramatically altered.

But we aren’t powerless. There are things we can do to curb excessive water use. Remember: Little Steps add up to Big Changes!

At home, water management is largely a matter of adjusting daily habits to decrease water usage and increase efficiency.

Do laundry only when you have a full load. Wear clothes repeatedly before laundering (except for undergarments!) Switch to a high-efficiency washer to reduce water use by up to 50%. Use the smallest recommended amount bio-degradable soap (read the label), and, if you soften your water, use half the recommended amount of detergent.

If you use a dishwasher, run it only when full. If you hand wash, don’t do dishes individually while letting the water run. Instead, wash and rinse a sink-full at a time.

In the bathroom: turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth; switch to a low-flow showerhead; and don’t take up residence in the shower stall. A tactic for combating that last tendency: make a habit of singing a specific song to accompany your shower, with the goal of finishing before the song ends.

Outdoors, water management includes capturing rainwater and runoff, and using less of our highly-treated drinking water for outdoor use.

Letting water soak into the ground has numerous benefits: preventing soil, fertilizers, salt, other pollutants, and debris from joining the stormwater runoff that feeds directly into our lakes; filtering out pollutants as the water moves through the ground; recharging our hydrologic system instead of diverting water out of it; and creating happier plants by feeding them with highly-oxygenated, fluoride- and chlorine-free water.

Plant rain gardens and create landscape depressions to absorb water. The root systems of native plants soak up vastly more water than lawn grasses, and native plants are low-maintenance to boot.

Try not watering your lawn. It may go dormant in a dry spell, but will rejuvenate with rain. If you feel you must water, use only as much as is absolutely necessary, take care to place sprinklers so they are watering the lawn and not the street or sidewalk, and only water in the early morning hours.

Another way to reduce lawn watering is to reduce your lawn! Replace lawn with native plants, perennials, vegetables, fruits, and trees. Placing mulch on beds will retain moisture and greatly lessen the need for watering.

With increasing numbers of cars and people, impervious surfaces — materials that don’t absorb rainwater — are rapidly replacing our valuable pervious surfaces — materials that both absorb and filter rainwater. Consider converting impervious surfaces to pervious ones. Replace a concrete or asphalt path with one made of pea gravel, pavers, or wood chips, or a driveway with pavers, crushed granite, or gravel.

Rain barrels divert rainwater from downspouts, capturing it for use in the garden or for car washing. (Wash your car over a pervious surface so the contaminants don’t go right to the lakes!)

The non-profit environmental group, Sustain Dane, runs the fast-growing RainReserve(TM) rain barrel program. Proceeds from rain barrel purchases are reinvested in Sustain Dane’s ongoing sustainability education and outreach in southern Wisconsin, making a purchase a win-win.

See a demonstration of a system and order your own at Habitat ReStore’s Earth Day Celebration Saturday the 19th from noon to four. Orders can also be placed on-line at www.rainfordane.org or by calling 316-6844. If you order one now, the next distribution will be Saturday, May 3rd, in conjunction with the Going Green Expo and Compost Bin sale at the Alliant Energy Center.

Water conservation and stewardship require consciousness of habits and consideration of our impacts on natural systems. The people of Monona can make our community, aquifers, and lakes healthier and cleaner by taking the Little Steps that lead to Big Changes.