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Creating Sustainable School and Home Gardens:
Water-Wise Gardening Kathy Cabe Trundle and Lawrence Krissek
The average family in the U.S. uses about 320 “Water is a sacred resource essential to feeding gallons of water per day, with about 30% of that families, growing crops, sustaining wildlife and the water being used for outdoor purposes like environment, and powering agricultural landscape irrigation (U.S. Environmental businesses. Unfortunately, drought conditions in Protection Agency [EPA], 2025a). The EPA the West continue to worsen… There is an urgent (2025b) reports that for the U.S. alone, we use at need to minimize the impacts of drought… because drought doesn’t impact just one least 8 billion gallons of water total per day just community—it affects all of us, from farmers and for our yards and landscapes! Sadly, up to 50% ranchers to city dwellers and Tribes.” of the water we use outdoors is wasted due to inefficient watering methods, resulting in the - Deb Haaland, Former Secretary of the waste of about 4 billion gallons of water each day U.S. Department of the Interior just in the U.S (EPA, 2025c). That’s enough water to fill the largest college football stadium in the U.S. 5 to 10 times each day! This staggering level of waste excludes water wasted indoors! Drought conditions can occur anywhere in the U.S.—or anywhere in the world—and those droughts that do occur are becoming more intense through time (Climate Central, 2025). These conditions challenge us to find creative ways to conserve water, and water-wise gardening can help us use less water outdoors, reduce water waste overall, and conserve this valued resource. In fact, some cultures value water so highly that it is considered sacred.
Water-Wise Gardening Defined
Water-wise gardening, also known as xeriscaping, involves using water efficiently and effectively to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing landscape for residential and commercial properties.
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