A Water Rhythm: “I created this term to help describe how to wean plants from regular water supply,” explained Ken Salvail, co-host of the ‘Grower Coach’ radio show, at the FLOWnGROW workshop (Nov 2016)
Note to Reader:
At the FLOWnGROW workshop held in Kelowna in November 2016, Ken Salvail was part of the presentation team for Module B titled Is Irrigation the Elephant in the Room?
The Okanagan Region is heavily dependent on irrigation to nourish crops and provide greenspace throughout a parched region. The region is a key part of the provincial food security initiative while it is undergoing development pressure. How will agriculture production be sustained in the region?
Ken Salvail, the ‘Grower Coach’ on local radio in the Okanagan, provided his insights regarding based on his observations of water use for residential irrigation, with emphasis on how use is set by individual choices.
FLOWnGROW – Balancing the Economy, Ecology and Settlement in the Okanagan
On November 29, 2016 the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia (PWSBC) and the Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia (IIABC) joined forces to co-host a workshop that built on the precedent established in 2013 with “Get Your Mind Into the Gutter: A Workshop on Rainwater Harvesting in British Columbia”.
The FLOWnGROW workshop addressed both immediate and long term water security issues in the Okanagan Valley. For this reason, the Okanagan Basin Water Board was also a co-host.
The Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia was a workshop sponsor and Bob McDonald, host of Quirks & Quarks on CBC Radio was the headline keynote speaker.
Is Irrigation the Elephant in the Room?
The Okanagan Region is heavily dependent on irrigation to nourish crops and provide greenspace throughout a parched region. The region is a key part of the provincial food security initiative while it is undergoing development pressure.
How will agriculture production be sustained in the region?
To Learn More:
Download Flow and Grow! – Balancing Economy, Ecology and Settlement in the Okanagan to read the Program Overview.
What are the Social Benefits of Landscapes and Is Irrigation Important to Maintain these Values?
A passionate gardener since the early ‘80’s, Ken cut his teeth in landscaping at an early age.
He quickly went on to growing of tropical plants, hot house cucumbers and tomatoes, poinsettia production, tree and shrub propagation, wholesale perennial production all while developing over 2500 landscape designs.
Now Ken is running his full service landscape company spring till fall and educating the public as the ‘Grower Coach’ on the weekly garden show that he does with Don Burnett every Saturday morning on radio.
To Learn More:
Download What are the Social Benefits of Landscapes and Is Irrigation Important to Maintain these Values? to view a PDF copy (24 MB) of the images in the presentation by Ken Salvail.
Below is the video of Ken’s presentation.
How Much Water is Enough?
“Ken Salvail provides great insights into the nature and needs of residential landscape irrigation,” reports Kim Stephens, FLOWnGROW moderator and Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC.
“Ken Salvail’s experience is that people in the Okanagan use more water than is needed. This results from a lack of understanding of how much water is enough. “
“Ken’s conclusions about over-watering versus under-watering are, in my judgment, a classical application of what once would have been described as sound engineering, and that is : observation and deduction.”
A Water Rhythm
When asked to provide his reflections on a defining takeaway message from the workshop, Ken Salvail wrote:
“I created a term called ‘A Water Rhythm’ to help describe how to wean plants from regular water supply.”
“Our irrigation systems tend to teach plants how to live with constant water rather than little water.”
To Learn More:
