That's right. With peak gardening season just around the corner, Cochrane residents are about to get their first full-season taste of a new water-conservation initiative that employs a three-tier water rate structure based on use.

"Basically, the more water you use, the more you'll pay," says Rick Deans, who manages the water and wastewater department for the town, located minutes west of Calgary.

The bylaw is one of two new water-conservation initiatives designed to circumvent the imposition of mandatory water restrictions in Cochrane. The second restricts outdoor watering to the hours of 5 a.m to 10 a.m., or 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., says Deans.

The City of Calgary also appears committed to a residential water-conservation strategy, largely based on awareness.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
Terry Grant of Highlands Environmentals plants drought-resistant trees in northwest Calgary.

And while there's evidence that approach nets some success, businesses that make their living promoting the principles of water conservation say too many homeowners make landscaping decisions that aren't ecologically sustainable, given projections of how climate change and population growth are expected to affect Calgary's water supply.

"Grass is the biggest problem," says Terry Grant of Highland Environmentals, a landscaping company that does three-quarters of its work in Calgary's newest neighbourhoods.

He estimates that 50 to 70 per cent of summer water use goes to irrigating lawns that are never used.

His company recommends planting the corners and edges of yards with drought-tolerant shrubs, trees and perennials and using grass only in the areas where it's actually used by homeowners and their families.

He's also a big fan of adequate mulching to maintain soil moisture and suppress weeds, which compete for scarce water resources.

Like Grant, Doug Nachtigall of Rising Land Design says a growing number of his landscape clients want water-wise gardens - but don't realize these landscapes are also easier to maintain over time.

Convinced that "we need to be a little more aware of every drop of water that hits the landscape," Nachtigall is even working more bogs and marshes into his designs, giving homeowners more innovative ways to collect and store rainwater and snowmelt on the landscape.

Nachtigall is also researching new products, including an Australian-made eavestrough that collects rainwater after the first dusty flush of water washes through the system.

His quest for indigenous plants from local seed and plant sources often brings Nachtigall to Bow Point Nursery Ltd., just west of Calgary.

Bow Point, whose clients include Parks Canada, the City of Calgary and a rising number of Calgarians, propagates locally grown plants outdoors in nature's own nursery, where field-grown plants are exposed to a frost-prone, windy site with clay-loam soil - and no extra water.

"We can design a landscape that doesn't need to be watered at all," says Bow Point's Ken Wright.

Like others in the business of conservation, he's convinced the land development and landscaping industries know what they should do when it comes to water conservation - but just don't walk the talk.

And changing that may mean water legislation similar to what Cochrane has put in place, or being more creative when it comes to applying other bylaws or tax structures.

Nachtigall points to a Calgary land-use bylaw that promotes the use of water-dependent ornamental turf grasses on city easements at the front of residential properties. He says native prairie grasses could do the job, but the bylaw won't let them.

Similarly, Grant would like to see tax incentives for developers or homeowners who implement water-wise landscaping choices. From where he sits, turfed and treed boulevards that require extra water and grass-cutting are old-school and not sustainable.

Grant estimates that conservation-style landscapes could cost the average homeowner four times the cost of a traditional sod yard.

But the enhanced pricetag for installation includes low-maintenance and drought-tolerant trees and shrubs that require little work once established.

While a standard front-lot design might include sod and a single tree, a water-wise landscape could include as many as 10 shrubs, ample bark mulch and amended soil to support drought-tolerant flowering perennials, explains Grant.

No one should worry that water-wise plants will restrict choice or beauty, says Peter Poole of Arctos & Bird Management Ltd., a Banff-based property management company that used indigenous plants and water-wise designs on two properties in the Banff townsite.

Poole admits he was surprised to learn the region has more than 750 indigenous plants, many of them featuring year-round beauty. "There's a great bounty out there provided to us in nature ... and I think we're only at the beginning of learning to work with it."

Although few details can be made public, Poole says Arctos & Bird is involved with an Edmonton-based land developer working on an environment-oriented residential subdivision in that city. Poole is hopeful they will connect with a regional nursery that, like Bow Point, features indigenous plant material from plants sourced and grown in the North Saskatchewan watershed.

In the meantime, he shares Nachtigall and Grant's opinions that perhaps it's time governments did more to encourage the use of drought-tolerant species and water-wise landscaping design.

It's a carrot-and-stick approach to land-management change - with no downside given the advantages of water conservation and increased biodiversity, says Poole.

"We have to contemplate the rainfall pattern and the snowmelt-supplied water in our rivers will be different than they have been in the past," notes Poole.

Anything less ignores reality.

(Joy Gregory can be reached at joy@businessedge.ca)