The Grass Doctor

Does anyone know where I can find reports on the ills of using lake water for irrigating lawns?

I live in an area that wants to allow private homeowners to use their lake water for anything they want, like watering the lawns. I have heard that this is a bad practice as it upsets the natural water level, especially during droughts. We have a meeting tomorrow and I'd like to have documentation to support my claim. Thanks for any help... I forgot to say that we are also all on well water.

Public Comments

1. depends on how much water is pumped out of the lake. and how the lake water is replenished By rain, Snow melt or underground spring?
2. The amount of water that naturally evaporates from a lake is approximately equal to the amount of water a lawn of the same size needs in a year. The principal is called ET, evapotransporation. It depends on wind, temperature, etc, but the approximation is close to actual numbers. Whether it is a problem to use the water in the lake for lawn irrigation depends on what other source of water is available for the lawn irrigation. Using treated drinking water for a lawn probably causes more problems, and is much more expensive than using untreated lake water. Any ecological problems for the lake would depend on the amount of water removed by lawn irrigation, vs. not.