Fall Is Here: A Water-Wise Checklist for the Season Change

Monsoon season is officially over, and mornings are finally a little more bearable. Fall is one of the best times of year to reset your yard's watering habits. Cooler temperatures mean your landscape needs less water than it did in July, so now is the time to adjust for the changing seasons. As we transition into fall mode, here are some things to consider outdoors, where up to 65% of residential water use occurs.

Reset your irrigation timer
Summer watering schedules are built for triple-digit heat. As temperatures drop, that same schedule can mean overwatering —wasted water, run-off, and stress on your plants. Take five minutes to:

• Reduce watering frequency. See our new simplified water guidelines for more details.
• Check for a "seasonal adjust" feature on smart controllers, which can do this automatically.
• Walk your yard during a scheduled cycle to look for broken heads, clogged drip lines, or water pooling on sidewalks.

Fall is prime planting season, but it is also a time to skip overseeding
Spring gets all the planting attention, but fall is actually the better window for the desert Southwest. Cooler soil means less transplant shock, and plants get months to establish roots before next summer's heat arrives. It's a great time to:

• Add low-water, desert-adapted plants and trees. Our Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert book and website are a great place to start.
• In the fall, many people think about overseeding their Bermuda grass with ryegrass for a green winter lawn. But skipping overseeding has several benefits. Read our recent blog on skipping overseeding to learn more. 

Think ahead on pool season
Pools lose less water to evaporation as temperatures cool, but fall is a good checkpoint before your pool sees less use:

• Check for slow leaks now, while you can still test easily.
• Consider a pool cover to cut evaporation further as usage drops.
• If closing or reducing use for the cooler months, make sure equipment isn't left running unnecessarily.

The change of season is a natural reminder to look at your yard with fresh eyes and in cooler air. A few small adjustments now save water all fall and set your landscape up for an easier transition back into summer next year.

For 57 years, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association has worked to protect our member cities' ability to provide assured, safe, and sustainable water supplies to their communities — Avondale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe. For more information, visit amwua.org.