ottawa citizens -- DO water your lawns -- please -- do NOT use a sprinkler

The Problem
"Firefighters were called to 128 Hopewell Ave. just before 8 p.m. for a blaze that spread from one home to another, leaving behind $700,000 in damages to the structures and another $300,000 in damages to their contents. ... 
... “It went up in like five minutes,” he said. “It was completely engulfed in fire.” ...
...  the fire started as a grass fire, which spread to the home."
<http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/07/14/fire-destroys-glebe-home?select_sec_photo=2>

"Ottawa residents who get their water from the central drinking water system should feel free to ... water their lawns and gardens and trees"
<http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/07/16/burn-ban-still-in-place>


Having each house surrounded by much tinder, is a real fire risk!



http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/ID/2258065243/

Fire officials in Ottawa are encouraging people in the city to water their lawns to help reduce the risk of fires.

A lack of rain in the region has kept Ottawa firefighters busy. In the last week alone, they have had to extinguish 34 grass and brush fires.

<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/07/18/ottawa-water-your-lawn-say-firefighters.html>

The Problem-on-the-way-to-a-solution
The solution is simply to provide the surrounding herbiage with the water that it lacks.


If you use a sprinkler (generating a mist / spray of water -- maximizing its evaporation), most of the water that you are paying for ends up
- evaporating to the air from the airborne mist / droplets
- landing on the leaves / blades, from which it evaporates, without doing any good to the plant.


This is an even bigger problem when, as is too-often seen, lawns are sprinklered in the heat, sun and/or wind.


Very little lands on the earth, from which some evaporates; so, even less seeps into the ground.


Even less makes it down to the roots, from which the plant must draw its moisture.


So, don't sprinkle.


The Solution  
So, take out your hose, lay the end on the ground, open the tap.
Let it run 'til the ground is saturated, and/or you see it draining off the grass.
Relocate the end of the hose to another area
Repeat as necessary...


This practice also suppresses weed growth -- as the surface of the soil is kept drier (i.e. the supplied water soaks in at the point of application, sinking to root level) -- seeds landing on the ground have a lower likelihood of germination.

The Big Picture
When grass is brown, it is "dormant"; it does not grow, it does not metabolize.
Too bad! (see below)


It does act as a fire risk (more than just a hazard, as was demonstrated in The Glebe a few days ago).


When grass is green, everyone is happy.
It looks nice; it feels good underfoot.


But, it is also de-Changing Climate.


The metabolism peculiar to green plants is, of course, photosynthesis.


carbon dioxide + water => carbohydrate (CHO) + oxygen (also pretty good stuff)


So, if you keep your grass green, you are supporting the original  / all-natural carbon sequestration system.


Hey!  It's win-win-win-win-win ....


watering lawn = saving planet