[Community_garden] Paying for water at Community Gardens

[Wade Zawalski]

Hi,

I can't say exactly how much water you need but many garden guides and
experts will say that plants will need one inch (2.5 cm) of water per week
on average.  If you take this as the upper bound for the average garden
(assuming minimal rain) then this represents 400 inch-feet of water or 33
cubic feet per week or approximately 250 gallons/week.  In metric this is 1
cubic meter or 1000 litres/week.

My research has shown that the vast majority of community gardens charge
approximately $15  to $30 dollars per 400 square foot garden plot.  The Grow
Regina gardens in which I am involved charge $30 for a 20 foot x 20 foot
plot and $40 for 20 foot  x 30 foot plot.  Water accounts for 50 - 60% of
this fee.

Our city currently charges approximately $1/cubic meter so you can estimate
that each garden will cost $1/week to irrigate or about $16.00 per four
month season. I have read that drip irrigation is supposed to reduce water
consumption by 50% in which case this becomes $8 a season.  Remember some
years are dryer than others and everyone has different watering habits so
this is only an approximation.  Also your climate may be significantly
different than ours (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada).  Good luck and let us
know how the drip irrigation system works.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Wade Zawalski
www.growregina.ca



On Feb 5, 2008 12:57 PM, <annie at growinggardens.org> wrote:

> I'm looking for information on programs that currently charge community
> gardeners for their water consumption. Currently, we are opening a new
> garden in our county where the gardeners will be charged by plot for water
> consumption. We are considering making drip irrigation mandatory in the
> gardens. I'm looking for feedback on best practices from those of you who
> charge for water. If you have any suggestions for how to make this system
> work fairly and smoothly, please let me know!
>
> Also, if anyone has any estimations on how much water a 400 square foot
> plot would typically consume during a growing season, we're located in an
> arid climate (Boulder, CO) that would be very helpful as well!
>
> Thanks so much,
> Annie Sweeney
> Growing Gardens
> annie at growinggardens.org
> 303-413-7248
>
>
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