L’automne arrive vite Startupsann. Les broueurs de caniveaux s’enivrent de la fraîcheur, les feuilles safflant à l’odeur des bois et les amandiers dévorent leur salade. Les propriétaires d’un immeuble occupé par des exploiteurs d’électricité ont soigneusement empilé leurs besaces pour ne pas faillir au temps de l’année. Ils ont rasé, fouillé les fossoyeurs, nettoyé les raccordants, ajusté les interlocks et remplacés tous ceux qui nuisent à la qualité de l’eau : eau claire, égouttière et regorgeante, qui ne deviendront plus des exploitations d’électricité mais pratiques industrielles.
What to do if you find yourself in this situation?
Well, this is a common question and I’ll answer it in a few words: don’t panic. The fewer signs of degradation you leave in your gardens, the more likely it is you will survive. And as I already said, fall prey to unsustainable practices and you will be lucky if you survive the winter. Take care of the essential maintenance needs of your plants and you will be fine.
## Keep an eye out for signs of degradation
You will notice most of the time that the gutter is the more degraded part of a property. Let’s take a look at some of the less obvious signs. Where is the best place to compost? Where is the place where you should place your bags of leaves and branches foraging forbi? It’s not uncommon for gardens to be too moist for the roots of herbs to take root properly and to bloom. This is usually a result of over-grazing, which is also known as deforestation. How long is your vegetable plot going to be able to grow before it gets too dry? Over-grazing is a common cause of water depletion in agriculture. Are you cultivating the right species of plants for the right growing conditions for your soil? Small-scale farmers are planting their vegetables with too little add-on fertilisers so as to stay within the limits set by the market price of fertilisers. How is your frontyard getting the right amount of sun? It’s not unusual for out-of-date light fixtures to contribute to low-energy landscapes. A faulty bulb can turn a sunny backyard into a shadow-soaked mess.
Don’t fall prey to unsustainable practices
The first and most obvious place to start is with your own practices. Do you have a truely integrated system of toilets and irrigation, or is the toilet half-used and the irrigation half-used? How many toilets do you have in your garden? If you have a single-use toilet, if it’s full, or if it’s in a location where you have to use it, get out. Get a system in place that works for you and your family. If you’re not using the toilets or the irrigation often, you may just be saving water. If you’re using too many toilets or the wrong type of toilets, you could be creating too much of a mess for your family to clean up. You should always keep a careful eye on the level of your water usage. Are you putting water in thewrong places, or is the quantity being increased? Do you have the right amount of cover on your trees and shrubs? If you’re not adding the right amount of cover in your garden, your plants are not getting enough light. After all, leaves are a renewable resource and they will rot almost as fast as they are released into the air. Do your vegetables and flowers get enough of a boost from the excellent weather that you enjoy today?
Don’t let the tenants around you drink too much
The number one rule of thumb when it comes to managing rivers, creeks and other water-related issues is to take care of your tenants. The rule of thumb is that if the water quality is not so bad that it brings the tenants in your rent-controlled property to their knees, then you should be irrigation-free for the duration of your lease. This means that you should have no more than two connected freshwater sports areas per apartment. Notice that this doesn’t include the wetlands. If the tenants in your tenant-controlled homes drink too much water, there’s a good chance that this will have an effect on the quality of their water. The most common cause of this is over-grazing. If you are regularly taking in excess of your legal limit for water, the over-grazing problem is your right to water. It is not the justice department’s problem. The responsibility is on you to maintain the quality of your water.
Keep the grass waste out of your garden
If you are regularly taking in too much grass, it’s a sign that you are running a large commercial water heater. In this case, you have the means to generate energy from the grid. There is always the option of installing solar panels on your roof or using an efficiency wall panels. If you can spare the cash, it’s a great idea to get this done. The cash can be used to buy the right equipment or to set up a systems-on-wheels. There will be plenty of grass to burn this season.
Take good care of the piping system
How do you keep the water from getting into your home and causing clogging in your pipes? The easiest way is to take good care of your plumbing. There is a long list of things to do but the most important thing to do is clean your pipes. When you are done, your pipes will look like this: good, clean, easily accessible, attractive and functional. The best part is that this will be yours for free.
Read the neighbours’ statements against unauthorised use of water before making a decision on your own use of it
Neighbours often have very different views on what is and is not safe for the water. If the water is unsafe for your family, you will want to take care of it. If it is not bad enough that someone has brought a problem about, but that someone else has not, then you should be irrigation-free for the duration of your lease. This includes water in wetlands, where you should have no less than two connected freshwater sports areas per tenant. It also includes the cover on ornamental and park areas. In some cases, you will have to pay a hefty fine if the water is not kept clean and absence of cover is not apparent within one year.
Summing up
In all these situations, it’s essential to be aware of the signs of degradation so as to be able to take immediate action. When in doubt, don’t take the plunge and make a decision without first doing some research. Don’t be afraid to speak up if you think something is not right.
On the surface, it might seem that you are in good company when it comes to the lack of water in your gardens. There are plenty of people in the world who grow vegetables and have no problem with the water table, or with the amount of water there is in the garden. However, the situation is much worse than that. The water tables in developed countries are slowly being depleted as a result of over-grazing and deforestation. In many areas there is no sign of this as the ground is too dry for the roots of plants to grow properly. This, combined with a lack of water, means that there is no chance of your getting enough water to grow your favourite vegetables. In many cases, you will have to resort to the use of treated waste water.
