The Right Thing To Do In the Spotlight - Las Brisa Block Party

The Right Thing To Do

By Randy Zellers SDL, Director of Operations

Scottsdale City Council approved a code amendment which states Homeowners Associations cannot mandate homeowners to overseed their lawns starting this fall. This is the first city in the Valley to allow homeowners to choose their course regarding overseeding or not overseeding. Many Homeowners’ Association have it written in their CC&R’s that if you have turf, it must be overseeded in the winter. The decision was a direct result of water supply shortages on the Colorado River and Arizona will go into a Tier 2a starting January 1, 2023, and more cutbacks may be in the near future.

The shortfall is not only a result of lack of rainfall here in the Valley, but a combination of rainfall and lack of snowpack to our north. The Colorado is fed by melting snow and the last decade has been less than normal causing the water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell to drop to historic low levels. As Maricopa County continues to grow, pressure to ensure enough water for residents and municipalities has been stretched thin.

As we’ve mentioned in past articles, turf is the largest water user in the landscape by far. Turf will require roughly 4 times more water annually than desert adapted trees and shrubs. Currently, more landscape architects are designing less and less turf into new builds in order to compensate for the growing shortages of water throughout the Valley. Turf placement needs to be functional and well thought out in order to be viable in the landscape in todays’ market. Weird angles and slopes are hard to irrigate efficiently and should be considered for removal due to water waste and high maintenance costs. It was only a matter of time before existing and mature developments were asked to participate in water savings. Many older community landscape designs were approved prior to water becoming the issue it is today and if proposed now, would more than likely be asked to reduce turf quantities to meet available water supply and demand.

Managing water is going to be the number one priority for landscape contractors in the upcoming decades. Rainfall and ET must be monitored daily, and adjustments made based on these findings in order to manage efficiently and save water waste. If you or your landscaper only set your timer for a summer program and a winter program, you’re probably wasting water. For every 0.25” of rain, you should be able to turn the irrigation system off for three days. It drives me crazy to drive around town and see irrigation running to turf areas during a rainstorm. Proactively, SDL monitors the weather forecast and tries to shut irrigation off prior to any storms on the horizon. Traditionally, rainfall in the Valley occurs early evening and turf irrigation shouldn’t be running at that time day to start with. Pre-dawn runtimes in the summer before it gets warm and just after dawn during the winter to avoid frozen or slippery sidewalks.

I’m proud of Scottsdale Ranch Community Association, the many sub associations and homeowners that chose not to overseed this year in order to help with the water savings. The dormant Bermuda will come back even better next spring after the break this fall and winter. After all, it was the right thing to do.

Las Brisas Block Party

In October, the Las Brisas community within Scottsdale Ranch, held a Block Party for its residents, and it was a great success! Neighbors gathered to socialize over food, drinks, and there was even a live musician! A great time was had by all.

SRCA highly recommends our SR residents take advantage of this FREE opportunity, by reserving the block party trailer to host a party for you and your neighbors. The Block Party trailer comes equipped with all your block party essentials. Please visit the SRCA website or call the SRCA office for details.