By Chuck Montera
From the June 2023 Issue
The Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado recently launched the Sustainable Landscape Community (SLC) initiative, which incentivizes large water users (including master-planned communities) to use less water. Why should a landscaping group spearhead a water conservation program? First, an understanding of meteorological conditions in Colorado and the Western U.S. is needed.
Drought Conditions
Colorado is often referred to as “the headwaters state” because eight major river basins originate in the state, including the Platte, Arkansas, and Colorado Rivers, as well as the Rio Grande. Yet Colorado’s ongoing, 20+ year drought has put increasing strain on both local and national water supplies.
Climate change has severely impacted the Colorado River Basin, which provides water to 40 million people. Colorado’s unending drought has created historically low runoff levels, causing both Lake Mead and Lake Powell to drop to near dead pool (inability to generate hydropower) levels. Declining snowpack levels over the last two decades have adversely affected not only the Colorado River Basin, but the seven other major river basins that originate in Colorado. To make matters worse, a recent study from researchers at New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory found that Colorado could see a 50% to 60% reduction in snow within 60 years.
In 2015, then-Governor John Hickenlooper directed the Colorado Water Conservation Board to create the first comprehensive Colorado Water Plan. It serves as the state’s framework for solving Colorado’s water challenges, especially issues exacerbated by climate change and ongoing drought throughout the Western U.S.
ALCC is Colorado’s largest Green Industry professional trade association and it created the SLC initiative to demonstrate how HOAs, as well as commercial and retail properties, can be part of Colorado’s water conservation solution.
One of the major tenants of the Colorado Water Plan is active collaboration to conserve our most precious natural resource – water. In this collaborative spirit Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) launched the Sustainable Landscape Community initiative. ALCC is Colorado’s largest Green Industry professional trade association and it created the SLC initiative to demonstrate how HOAs, as well as commercial and retail properties, can be part of Colorado’s water conservation solution.
Bottom line, outdoor watering is in the crosshairs of water utilities. The SLC initiative provides large water users with a platform to stand out as environmentally savvy, sustainable communities that are part of the state’s water solution, not part of the problem.
Based On Certification
According to ALCC CEO John McMahon, SLC is the blueprint for all large water users to reduce the amount of water they use outdoors. A major component is the 125-page manual, written in 2019 by landscape architect Janet Waibel, entitled Sustainable Landscape Management: A Guide to More Sustainable Landscapes in Colorado, that serves as the basis for Sustainable Landscape Management certification.
The Sustainable Landscape Management (SLM) guide predates the SLC, and its foundation is simple: applying the right maintenance practices at the right time. The manual was drafted from input by landscape companies, municipalities, water providers, and property managers from across Colorado.
SLM defines proper maintenance practices to conserve resources and maximize the natural beauty of Colorado landscapes. These guidelines encourage the use of plants that are indigenous and acclimated to Colorado, which help landscapes thrive despite the harsh, dry climate. Sustainable landscapes are responsive to the environment, regenerative, and can actively contribute to healthy communities. Manicured turf areas are not sustainable landscapes, but native/xeric landscapes are.
To participate in a training class and earn the SLM certificate, attendees must be employed by an ALCC member company. Purchase of the SLM manual is required in advance of the training classes, which are offered several times a year and cost $65.
Each training class is four hours in length and upon completion, attendees receive a link to an electronic exam. The exam is 50 questions, timed, and is open book, meaning the SLM manual may be used to answer the questions. Landscape maintenance professionals who complete the training class and get a passing score on the exam earn the Sustainable Landscape Management certificate. Recertification is required every two years via an exam. A $50 renewal fee covers exam costs.
The SLM training program:
- Certifies public and private employees in SLM practices;
- Positions municipalities/companies as innovative and part of the sustainability solution;
- Showcases maintenance professionals as stewards of sustainability;
- Demonstrates maintenance is part of the water conservation solution – not the problem;
- Levels the playing field for all maintenance providers by using the same standards;
- Educates the public on what proper maintenance looks like; and
- Attracts potential clients and new industry professionals.
“Sustainable landscape practices require year-round maintenance, which some master-planned communities see as cost-prohibitive,” said McMahon. “But in the long run, they will save money by using less water, reducing utility bills, and ensuring they don’t have to replace trees – one of the largest landscape expenses – because they were poorly planted and not properly maintained.”
How SLC Works
As mentioned, the SLC designation recognizes larger water users for incorporating sustainable landscape practices that save water and systematically reduce water consumption. To apply, potential SLC communities must use an ALCC member landscape company that participates in the SLM program for its maintenance.
The community must also document the sustainable landscape maintenance practices used onsite, including photos and detailed information about key qualifications including:
- Turf areas on property, including the type and watering schedule;
- The plants, trees, and shrubs on property, indicating native plants;
- Irrigation system details, including irrigation audit and water budget; and
- Drainage and pest management solutions.
A one-time, application fee of $1,000 is required, along with a yearly fee of $400 once the designation is obtained.
SLC communities boast healthy, vibrant landscapes during particularly dry spells, which is not only appreciated by residents but also by the water utilities and metro districts.
Having an SLC designation sets apart a community as water-savvy, something very important to green-minded Coloradans looking for a place to call home. SLC communities boast healthy, vibrant landscapes during particularly dry spells, which is not only appreciated by residents but also by the water utilities and metro districts. SLC gives master-planned/HOA communities the tools to educate community members about water savings measures through ALCC-provided materials. In addition, SLC designated communities save not only water, but money too. (The chart in the next column, a case study on Centerra in Loveland, CO, demonstrates how cost-effective SLM practices can be.)
Case Study: Centerra
In 2021, ALCC awarded Centerra, a 3,000-acre, master-planned community in Loveland the state’s first ALCC Sustainable Landscape Community (SLC) designation. “We need to use the least amount of water to keep landscapes healthy by using proven and vetted best management practices,” said McMahon. “Centerra’s SLC designation and sustainable landscape practices serves as a model for other Colorado communities wanting to use less water.”
Centerra approached ALCC through the relationship they have with ALCC member companies Brightview and Environmental Designs, which provide maintenance services for the community and whose onsite employees are SLM certified. Because of Centerra’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, ALCC decided to pilot the Sustainable Landscape Community designation with the master-planned community.
Centerra applied for the designation, detailing how the landscape is maintained sustainably based on practices dictated in the SLM training manual and photos of the site. The community was built on the belief that nature provides the perfect balance to urban planning. Centerra not only cut its water use significantly through sustainable practices, but the community is also realizing major cost savings as well.
“When you compare the cost of native plants and sustainable techniques with those of regular turf and imported plants, the difference is astounding. We are amazed by just how much we’ve saved at Centerra following the guidelines for a SLC.”
— Kim Perry, VP, Community Design and Neighborhood Development, McWhinney
“When you compare the cost of native plants and sustainable techniques with those of regular turf and imported plants, the difference is astounding. We are amazed by just how much we’ve saved at Centerra following the guidelines for a SLC,” said Kim Perry, vice president of Community Design and Neighborhood Development for McWhinney, the Denver-based, comprehensive real estate investment and development company that developed Centerra.
Centerra has continued to reduce water consumption over the years. In 2022, the community compared the costs of installing, maintaining, and watering a native landscape area versus a manicured turf area. The cost for the native landscape was three times less than the manicured landscape. Utility (primarily water) costs alone for a native landscaped area were more than ten-times less expensive than watering manicured turf.
The table below illustrates Centerra’s costs for installation, annual maintenance, and annual utilities for three different types of landscape: Native, Enhanced Native, and Manicured Landscapes.
Armed with this cost-saving data, ALCC has now launched a proactive recruitment campaign, using ALCC members to enlist master planned/HOA communities across the state to become SLC designated communities. “SLC is the right choice for communities that want to get ahead of current and future outdoor water restrictions,” said McMahon. “Now is the time to reduce water use through sustainability and collaborate in accordance with Colorado’s Water Plan.”
Montera is vice president of Sigler Communications, a national strategic communications firm based in Denver, CO. ALCC was one of the first accounts Montera managed when he started at Sigler Communications 23 years ago. Sigler Communications has guided the ALCC on communications regarding landscape issues, including public education on how to best care for landscapes in Colorado’s harsh growing conditions with a specific emphasis on water-wise landscaping and the value of hiring an ALCC member. More information about the Sustainable Landscape Community program is available at www.alcc.com/slc.
Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at cmenapace@groupc.com.
