It’s that time of year when thoughts of spring start swirling, which means it’s also the ideal time for outdoor planning. To help you in your spring preparation, the AMWUA cities offer...
In Arizona, we understand the importance of water conservation. That’s why developing a wide array of programs and resources that are easily accessible to residents and businesses remains a...
Spring has arrived, and now is the perfect time for outdoor planning. With a little strategy and knowledge, it’s easy to design and maintain a landscape best suited to our climate. This is...
Although conservation alone will not resolve water challenges, having it rooted in our daily actions enables us to better weather drought and shortages. Being water-wise will be critical to our...
Here in the Valley, most of our water use occurs outdoors and not inside the home. With such a significant amount of our water being used outside, it highlights the importance of being efficient...
While some areas of the country are still dealing with winter weather, our thoughts have turned to spring here in Arizona, which means it’s the perfect time to do some outdoor planning. With...
Here in the Valley, it is typical that much of our water use occurs outdoors and not inside the home. With such a significant amount of our water being used outside, it highlights the importance of...
Water-efficient landscapes are a must in our desert climate, but they don’t have to all be the same – adding your sense of style will make it your own and ensure your outdoor living...
With people taking extra precautions and proactively washing their hands more, some may wonder what impact it is having on our water and wastewater. That question does not have a simple answer...
With thoughts of spring swirling, now is the perfect time to do some outdoor planning. With a little strategy and knowledge, it’s easy to enjoy color in your desert yard all four seasons of...
Fall has officially arrived and most of us are relieved to open the windows, turn down the air conditioner and venture outside to enjoy the fresh air. Most will also take a look at how their yards...
The 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act required water providers to reduce the amount of water used per capita. The dilemma was cities did not have water conservation staff at that time. ...
It’s patio season in the desert and it doesn’t take much to put your winter yard in top form and ready for winter guests. Here are five tips from our cities’ conservation...
With a little strategy and knowledge, it’s easy to enjoy color in your desert yard all four seasons of the year. The cities of Avondale, Chandler and Glendale are offering free October...
The days are getting shorter and the shadows a little deeper. We’re all eager to spend more time outside, including making those changes to our landscape that we’ve been considering all...
Every year in June and July your city experiences its highest demand for water. So it makes sense that July is Smart Irrigation Month, a time set aside to remind people about efficient landscape...
An automated irrigation system waters your yard without you having to think about it – and that’s the problem. If you set the system and then forget it, this convenient device can...
In 1986, the City of Glendale established a plan to help lower the amount of water its residents used. The city didn’t mandate conservation or simply cheerlead residents to take action. It...
Homeowners need to do a little homework to get the most out of their shopping trip to a nursery. Professionals at your nursery have the know-how to help you plant and maintain a lovely,...
Investing in a tree adds shade to your yard, value to your home and is a gift to your city. The Cool Urban Space Project by the City of Phoenix, University of Arizona and Arizona State University...
On March 3 about 1,000 people will pick up a new weather-based smart irrigation controller for their home at a fraction of the retail cost. These WaterSense labeled controllers come with...
Container gardens of cactus and succulents can add color and dimension to a yard, drama to a small patio, and life to an apartment balcony. They also can be frustrating and leave you with dead and...
It’s not unusual to sit on your patio and wish for a prettier backyard or pull into the driveway and question the curb appeal of your home. Many homeowners need and prefer a low-maintenance...
We're approaching peak demand season for city water departments, which means peak water bills for residents and businesses. The demand for water is at its highest in June or July when landscape...
Monsoon storms brought temperatures down and brought more desert dwellers out to their patios. It's the time of year when homeowners begin to reimagine their yards: a new tree here, some...
Jim Lane's resume is packed with past and present memberships on important governing boards, such as the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and Maricopa Association of Governments. After...
In writing about the monsoon season, I'm hoping we do not jinx having more storms. The monsoon season in the Valley is a great time of year for suddenly cooler temperatures and extraordinary...
In a 3.2-acre space hemmed in by traffic noise, office buildings and warehouse construction sits a living classroom. The University of Arizona's Maricopa County Cooperative Extension is a place...
Many Southwest cities help their utility customers pay for long-term water-saving changes they make to their homes and yards. These changes can include buying a more water-efficient toilet or...
If you're working to make your landscape more water efficient, don't forget to add one of many drought-tolerant trees that thrive in the Metro Phoenix area. Trees can raise property value,...
Drought-tolerant plants and trees require less maintenance and water than a lawn. Yet, how do you remove grass, whether at your home, an HOA's common space, an apartment complex or a business?...
Arizona desert cities have a distinctive style. There are few other cities where you'll find mesquite and palo verde trees in parks, giant blue agaves and golden barrel cactus in yards,...
Here's the first rule about changing your landscaping: start with a plan. A plan takes a little know-how and right now many of your cities are offering classes about how to revamp, restore or...
Homeowners are quick to blame water meters when their water bills escalate. Water meters can malfunction, but an overcharge is rare. Water meters usually slow down with age. That means a faulty...
So you've selected desert-adapted plants and trees and installed a beautiful water-saving landscape. The key to maintaining your landscape's health, beauty, and longevity is watering...
We've all seen desert yards where three or four cactus plants are scattered across a sea of gravel. (We may see one when we look out our windows.) Then we've seen those dramatic desert...
AMWUA has been the go-to source for desert landscaping guides since desert landscaping was a novelty. Plant selection information remains the runaway favorite destination on our website. This...
There are 11 neighborhoods in the Town of Gilbert where residents have collectively saved 135 million gallons of water over five years. This achievement didn't happen by accident. About 25...
Thinking about some changes to your yard? Upgrading your kitchen, bathroom or laundry?If you upgrade to a more water-efficient home, your city may be willing to contribute to your project. Seven...
Remember the first time you saw Phoenix? If you weren't born here, you most likely flew in and then drove down a freeway. The desert landscaping that lines our freeways is one of those cultural...
Desert dwellers love a good rain, but cities long considered stormwater runoff a nuisance. Cities built massive infrastructures to drain it away quickly before it could flood streets and yards. In...
Along with thirty conservation leaders and experts in the southwest, I've been wrestling with a project since 2013. It's part of the Moving Forward effort initiated by the Bureau of...
During the last few decades, cities in the Phoenix Metropolitan area became bustling economic centers providing jobs and homes for millions of new residents. Development spread across what had been...
AMWUA member cities are focused on keeping water flowing in and out of your homes and businesses day in and day out. At AMWUA, we're all about solutions. Always have been. It's our job....
Etched on the wall at the entrance of the City of Scottsdale's Xeriscape Garden is this: "Demonstrating the Beauty of Saving Water." That is a lovely explanation of why some cities...
Tired of winter guests? How about inviting some colorful visitors to your backyard who can entertain you instead. It could be time to turn that bit of grass and gravel, with its smattering of...
There is almost always a decision to be made in a hotel bathroom. You can save water and hang up your towel for a second day's use or throw it on the floor, signaling the housekeeper to provide...
Cities in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area are willing to give you money and free experts to make water-saving changes in your home or business. But each city creates a different package of...
Each year an average family in the City of Tempe uses about 30,000 gallons of drinking water to wash clothes. Tempe is the first city in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area to help homeowners pay...
A different sort of national environmental organization has set its sights on Arizona. Change the Course wants to help maintain enough water in Arizona rivers to keep plants, birds and fish...
When it comes to protecting plants from cold weather, there are two types of desert homeowners: conscientious and casual. The conscientious have a plan. They are prepared with large...
In the last 22 months, the Phoenix Zoo reduced its water use by 20 percent. That saved the zoo $80,000 on its water bill over the past two years and conserved 19,500 million gallons of drinking...
You pay a landscaping company to save you the time and energy it takes to maintain a lovely green space. Twenty years ago, Arizona recognized that landscapers could do more. They could help their...
The Town of Gilbert helps homeowners associations take the guesswork out of irrigation costs. The town's voluntary program keeps landscapes looking lovely, saves money and water, and maintains...
The wrong tree in a desert yard can get ugly fast. Then, too, if the right tree is not correctly planted, nurtured or maintained it can die, grow in tortured directions, or fall over in a hard...
Desert shrubs do not thrive when homeowners and landscapers shear them into geometric shapes, such as balls, squares or inverted pyramids. Regular shearing weakens these shrubs, detracts from their...
Valley homeowners use as much as 70 percent of their water outside, particularly during the summer months. Here's the frustrating part: many homeowners can grow the same lovely outdoor spaces...
So you sit on your back porch during a good monsoon storm and watch sheets of rain fall off the edge of the roof. Where you see rain, there is a small group of people who see your watershed. These...
MYTH 1: A desert garden means replacing grass with ugly gravel. Plants, not gravel, dominate the loveliest desert gardens. Gravel is a low-maintenance ground cover, or rock mulch, that reduces...
The city of Avondale gave Mae Jorgensen a $200 check when she removed the grass from her front yard and replaced it with desert landscaping. Avondale gave her another $200 when she removed the...