City of Tempe, AZ
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Water Conservation Resource Library
Tap into Tempe's water conversation's digital resources, newsletters and publications. Learning about your water is a key to living a sustainable life. Sign up to receive timely water conservation news, helpful how-to articles and important updates.
November 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Learn about Tempe's Water Waste Ordinance
- Certify your home as water efficient
- Upcoming workshops
- November Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Cascalote
- Tempe neighbors spotlight: Tempe resident's feedback on a leak consultation
October 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Water by the numbers
- Apply for the Treebate
- Upcoming workshops
- October Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Firecracker Penstemon
- Tempe neighbors spotlight: Councilmember Nikki Amberg uses the WaterSmart Customer Portal
September 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Schedule a post-summer landscape check-up
- Apply for a high-efficiency irrigation rebate
- Upcoming workshops
- September Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Argentine Hedgehog
- Tempe neighbors spotlight: Irizarry Family's landscape conversion
August 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Tempe Parks skips overseeding
- Apply for a toilet rebate
- Upcoming workshops
- August Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Palo Blanco
- Tempe neighbors spotlight: WaterSmart
July 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Tempe takes action to conserve water
- 10 reasons to skip that winter lawn
- Upcoming workshops
- July Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Guayacán
- Register for WaterSmart
- Tempe neighbors spotlight: water consultations
June 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Tempe receives grant for water rebate funding
- Receive a rebate for adding monarch and pollinator-friendly plants to your landscape
- Trade water-thirsty grass for a desert-friendly landscape
- June Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Woolly Butterfly Bush
- Tempe neighbors spotlight: residents and neighbors fill consultation schedule
- Tempe has a long history of storing water underground at the Granite Reef Underground Storage Project (GRUSP)
May 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- How to prepare your landscape for summer
- Upcoming workshop: Smart Landscape Watering Practices
- May Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: San Marcos Hibiscus
- Tempe neighbors spotlight: 2024 Water Wise Landscape of the Year Award
April 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Benefits of a smart controller
- Upcoming workshop: Gardening to Attract Pollinators
- April Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Chuparosa
- Tree planting resources
- Connect with Water Conservation Staff
March 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Spring is the right time for a consultation
- Learn how to convert grass into desert plants
- March Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Bush dalea
- New signs at the Xeriscape Garden
- Tempe Parks receives water conservation grant
- Neighbor spotlight: Joan Gulotta
February 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- Water conservation rebates
- Turf conversion workshop
- February Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Bougainvillea
- It's time to visit the Xeriscape Demonstration Garden
January 2024 Residential Conservation eNewsletter:
- New WHENTOWATER phone number
- Stormwater workshop
- January Whentowater report
- Water wise plant of the month: Trailing Gazania
- SRP Shade Tree workshop
- Zero Waste Day event
- Nominate a Water Wise Landscape of the Year
Water Conservation Goes Virtual
Conservation eNewsletter June 2020 Issue: Smart Watering Tips
Conservation eNewsletter July 2020 Issue: Right time to water, plus residents rocking desert lush
Conservation eNewsletter September 2020: Hand Watering Do's and Don'ts
Conservation eNewsletter October 2020: Winter Overseeding Tips, Fall Vegetable Gardens
Conservation eNewsletter November 2020: Best Trees, WaterSmart Challenge
Conservation eNewsletter December 2020: Sustainable Gifts, WaterSmart Challenge
Conservation eNewsletter January 2021: Know Your Water Resources, Lake Park Villas Conserves
Conservation eNewsletter February 2021: Water Use Calculator, Spring Vegetable Gardens
Conservation eNewsletter March 2021: Tips for Maintaining Your Drip Irrigation System
Conservation eNewsletter May 2021: Sprinkler Repair, WHENTOWATER, Converting Lawns
Conservation eNewsletter June 2021: Smart Controllers, WHENTOWATER, Gray Water Rebate
Conservation eNewsletter October 2021: Top Five Water Conservation Tips, Best Landscape Trees
Conservation eNewsletter November 2021: Fall Watering, Pollinator Gardens, Business Spotlight
Conservation eNewsletter December 2021: Rebates, Overseeding Facts
Conservation eNewsletter January 2022: Help Tempe recognize water efficient homes, landscapes
Conservation eNewsletter February 2022: How to use WaterSmart to detect leaks
Conservation eNewsletter March 2022: Reasons to harvest rainwater
Conservation eNewsletter April 2022: Apply for a desert plant rebate
Conservation eNewsletter May 2022: May WaterSmart tips for the Planet
Conservation eNewsletter June 2022: View Tempe's Virtual Conservation Library
Conservation eNewsletter July 2022: Monsoon Season Watering Tips
Conservation eNewsletter August 2022: Check out the Water Use Calculator
Conservation eNewsletter August 2022: Check out the Water Use Calculator
Conservation eNewsletter September 2022: Colorado River Drought Update
Conservation eNewsletter October 2022: Winter overseeding recommendations
Conservation eNewsletter November 2022: Indoor and outdoor water conservation tips
Conservation eNewsletter December 2022: landscape professional search tips
Conservation eNewsletter January 2023: residential rebate opportunities
Conservation eNewsletter February 2023: nominations for the Water Wise Landscape of the Year Award
The City of Tempe provides publications on conservation topics for any Tempe customer. Each of these publications are available online or print. For print copies to be mailed to a Tempe or Guadalupe address, please submit an order form. Links to digital copies, flip books and interactives follow:
- Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert
- New Tree Guidelines: Right Tree, Right Place (PDF)
- Xeriscape: Landscaping with Style in the Arizona Desert
- Landscape Watering by the Numbers (PDF)
- Smart Home Water Guide: Find & fix leaks that are draining your Budget
- Desert Lawn Care (PDF)
- Good Reasons to Take Out Your Grass (PDF)
Detailed descriptions of each of the above publications follow:
Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert
Low-water-use plants from deserts all over the world can help you create a beautiful landscape that provides shade, privacy screening, habitat for wildlife, and even food. Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert: Guide to Growing More Than 200 Low-Water-Use Plants provides a unique selection of plants that have been carefully chosen by local valley horticulture and water experts. Each plant in the guide includes:
- a picture of the plant
- common name
- botanical name
- growth rate, size, and form
- foliage details (evergreen or deciduous), color, texture
- flowers and blooming seasons
- info about litter, thorns, allergy
- special features, such as pool friendly or great for screening
"New Tree Care Guidelines: Right Tree, Right Place"
The New Tree Care Guidelines: Right Tree, Right Place summarize best practices for planting, maintaining, and watering trees in Tempe.
Xeriscape: Landscaping with Style in the Arizona Desert
Xeriscape: Landscaping With Style in the Arizona Desert is a step-by-step guide for planning, installing and caring for your landscape in the desert. The guide goes over the eight steps to planning and designing a great yard. At the heart of creating a beautiful, healthy and water-efficient yard are the Xeriscape Principles:
- Good Landscape Planning and Design
- Low Water Use Plants
- Appropriate Turf Areas
- Efficient Irrigation
- Soil Improvements
- Use of Mulches
- Appropriate Maintenance
Xeriscape also comes in many styles for different tastes. Both the print copy of the book and the online version provides pictures of different Xeriscape landscapes that you can use as inspiration.
Landscape Watering by the Numbers
Up to 70 percent of your home water use could be going to your landscape. One of the easiest ways to save water outdoors is to ensure that the water that you're applying to your soil is not going to waste. Plant water needs depend on the weather. You may be able to reduce your water use by 30-50 percent by adjusting your irrigation each season.
The Landscape Watering by the Numbers PDF guide provides an easy way to figure out how often and how long to water your plants. To make efficient watering simple, how long you water will stay the same but how often you water will change at least four times a year.
Smart Home Water Guide
Find & fix Leaks that are draining your Budget: An Easy Step-by-Step Smart Home Water Guide will help you check your home and landscape for leaks. You do not need any special equipment to use this guide. It shows you how to use your water meter to check for continuous leaks and non-continuous leaks. It will also show you how to inspect different areas of your home and landscape for leaks, as well as how to use valves to isolate your leaks.
"Desert Lawn Care"
The Desert Lawn Care brochure highlights easy ways to maintain grass in the desert to ensure that it is beautiful and uses water as efficiently as possible.
"Good Reasons to Take Out Your Grass"
The Turf Removal brochure highlights best practices when it comes to removing grass from your landscape.
Outdoor Resources
View the resources below on how to be water wise with outdoor water use.
Landscape Watering Basics (Video)
How Long to Water Lawns (Video)
How Long to Water Landscape Plants (Video)
Landscape Watering Guide (PDF)
Landscape Watering Guide Interactive
How to Maintain Your Landscape to Keep It Growing Strong
Tree Care - Understanding the Language of Tree Service Contracts
Landscaping with Style in the Arizona Desert
How to Use Hardscape to Conserve Water
How to Design Your Yard for Year-Round Beauty
Desert Plants are Great at Multi-Tasking
Planting Properly to Keep Your Landscape Growing Strong
How to Install Your Xeriscape Landscape
How to Maintain Your Landscape to Keep It Growing Strong
Tree Care - Understanding the Language of Tree Service Contracts
Landscaping with Style in the Arizona Desert
How to Use Hardscape to Conserve Water
How to Design Your Yard for Year-Round Beauty
Desert Plants are Great at Multi-Tasking
Planting Properly to Keep Your Landscape Growing Strong
How to Install Your Xeriscape Landscape
How to Maintain Your Landscape to Keep It Growing Strong
Tree Care - Understanding the Language of Tree Service Contracts
These resources may be helpful for HOAs for managing common area landscape water usage. They especially relate to the HOA Water Budget Program.
Basics of Evaporation and Evapotranspiration (PDF)
Landscape Maintenance Considerations for HOAs (PDF)
Before hiring a landscape professional, start with Know Your Pro, which reviews the different qualifications, titles and certifications different professionals might carry and what they mean in terms of training and expertise.
Search the Smartscape Directory to find a landscape professional who has been Smartscape Trained in best practices for water-wise design and maintenance.