News sources this week told us that we are heading into a record mega drought, at least for the western half of North America. The snowpack for most the Rockies was at about 80%, but the past year was especially hot and dry, so melting snow was quickly absorbed by the already overly dry soils.
This means we horse owners need to pay extra attention to things like firewise techniques and water conservation. Here are some tips on how you can use water wisely on your horse property throughout the summer
Caring for Landscaping in the Dry Season
Use native plants whenever possible. Native plants have evolved over thousands of years in your particular region. They have adapted to the specific geography, hydrology, and climate of your area, and have co-evolved with animals, fungi, and microbes. These plants are disease tolerant, require less care and no pesticides or fertilizers, cost less, and once established, require no watering. For more information, check out our Pollinator Hedgerow Tip Sheet!
Apply compost. Soils amended with compost absorb and retain moisture, so if you’ve been composting your horse manure and spreading it on your pastures, landscape, lawn, and gardens, your plants are better prepared for dry weather than most.
Use mulch. Spreading wood chips, compost, bark, dry grass clippings, etc. around landscaping plants reduces evaporation on the soil surface. Straight stall waste, which is mostly shavings with little manure and urine, can also be utilized directly as mulch. NOTE: Fire prone areas should NOT use anything combustible. Use rock mulch (i.e. gravel products) instead.
Water deeply. Fortunately, most native landscapes require little watering once plants are well established, which takes about one to three years. Watering deeply but less often encourages roots to grow deeper. Frequent watering in small amounts encourages plants to keep roots shallow, resulting in poor growth and disease.
Water efficiently. Water in the evening hours when evaporation is less likely. For maximum efficiency, use drip irrigation, micro-sprays, or soaker hoses on gardens, crops, and plants. These systems apply water directly to the soil with minimal evaporation or runoff. Soaker hoses (which sweat water along their entire length) will only save water if they are used for the right length of time. To moisten the top six to 12 inches of soil, a soaker hose in loamy soils may need to run for about 30 to 40 minutes. Sandy soils may need less, clay soils more.
Pasture Irrigation
- Water pastures to a depth of 5 to 6 inches. You can test this by pushing a shovel or a long-handled screwdriver into the ground. If it slides in easily, no watering is needed. If the ground is hard and the screwdriver can’t work its way in, then irrigation is needed.
- Let your plants tell you when they need water. You will notice a slight color change in the overall pasture from deep green to gray or bluish-green. You may notice “foot printing,” which is when walking across the pasture leaves footsteps in the grass that don’t rebound.
- Wait as long as possible between watering without making the plants go into water stress. Deep, infrequent watering will mean deep, strong roots.
- Practice good pasture management to prevent issues caused by compacted soils, which reduces water infiltration and contributes to runoff.
Stock Watering Systems
Divert roof runoff. To conserve water, you can devise a system to capture the water from barn roof downspouts and divert it to stock watering tanks. You can do this using existing gutter equipment, or you may be able to design something yourself. (This practice is only recommended for buildings with fiberglass or metal roofs, not for composite or shake roofs.)
Automatic watering. Automatic watering systems conserve water because they only use as much water as your horse can drink. Look for system with moderately sized water pans, five gallons or less. A large one will get dirty and full of algae quickly, requiring you to clean it frequently. Another advantage to an automatic waterer is that the circulating water won’t provide habitat for mosquitoes.
Rain Barrels and Cisterns
Rain Barrels are designed to capture and store rainwater coming off a roof and are usually attached to a downspout. They consist of a storage container (usually plastic), a system for diverting downspout water into the barrel, and an overflow that returns to the downspout or diverts water safely away from the house to percolate into the soil. Cisterns are above or below ground water storage systems designed to serve large portions of the water needs of a building or landscape.
You can also recharge your groundwater by using pervious surfaces wherever possible, building an outdoor washrack, and creating swales and buffers, which absorb water instead of letting it collect in muddy puddles and evaporate off. Everything we do to help conserve water will go a long way toward reducing the impact of drought and reducing wildfire risk as we head into this hot, dry summer.
