Hi Daniel: To those of us living elsewhere can you give us some background information on why the water restrictions have been imposed? What has your annual rainfall been in the last 3-5 years in Vancouver proper, not so much the outlining areas but close to where the Botanical Gardens are? I am not trying to play devil's advocate here but this sentence really bothers me (keep in mind that I've dealt with state of California regulations for years as I live in a bona fide virtual desert classification based on right at 10 inches of rainfall annually), "minimum amount of water necessary for the survivability of our collections". Has that minimum amount number and total already been calculated? The problem I have is I know what happened when cities near me imposed severe water restrictions on homeowners and businesses, yet the cities themselves were exempt from such water restrictions. Does it really make sense to impose a "minimum amount of water necessary for the survivability of our collections" in order to pacify other water governing entities in your area? What about other private gardens in the Vancouver area, are they also willing to impose "minimum" amounts of water usage for their gardens also? I am curious in that is this an attempt by the Botanical Garden to show that a minimum amount of watering can be achieved or in all fairness should the word minimum not have been used here? I know of a specific Horticultural Foundation that also touted using minimum water for their growing operation and it was not long that even drought tolerant plants grown in containers started showing signs that they were not altogether pleased with the minimum amount of watering that a group of people thought was ample enough to get by with. After a unseasonable hot spell and the fact that the foundation had to sell plants in order to off set their negative cash flow problem that their bread and butter, the plants themselves, were not quite sellable and no one bought them. So the word minimum soon became "acceptable" water usage to show a decrease in the amount of water used on paper, yet still provide enough water to be able to sell their plants. Something here does not make sense to me as you' should be getting on average 4 times the amount of rainfall that we normally get in Fresno. The bottom line question then becomes, where has the water been going? Just answer what you feel like answering and forget the rest, I understand the dynamics of being in certain no-win positions all too well from my past. Jim
Jim, A bit of background: although Vancouver and area are often perceived to be "rainy", the region does not receive much precipitation from April to early September. Last year, we barely received any. If a summer drought is combined with a low snowpack from the preceding winter and high temperatures, the reservoir of water that the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) draws upon depletes fairly rapidly; all conditions which occurred last summer (and are in danger of occurring again this summer, as snowpack is low). I'll have to look up the stats on the exact numbers for precipitation at the garden the past few years. UBC Botanical Garden was not subject to water restrictions last year, although homeowners were restricted rather severely (particularly in watering lawns, then gardens). Oddly enough, the restriction did not apply to the garden because of the value of the collections, but rather because we charge an admission during the summer months, making us a "commercial venture". Another interesting tidbit is that water is not metered in the GVRD (at least for residences), so I don't believe actual calculations exist for volume used at the garden from summer to summer. However, just because we weren't subject to the restrictions didn't mean we couldn't do our part. Yes, some plants were lost - but these were generally plants where the curator of that garden has planted in multiple locations, some drier, some wetter - to see how particular clones react to different regimes. Other plants were stressed. A few weeks ago, I walked with the curator of the Asian Garden, Peter Wharton, looking at some of the magnolias. One in particular was a poor performer this year (few flowers) - Peter blamed it on suffering some drought stress from the preceding summer. Most other magnolias were spectacular (usually sited near streams or slope bottoms). I can see where you're getting at with the word "minimum", especially as it isn't measured precisely but is rather based on observations of drought stress in areas where water is a problem and as a set minimum volume of water is not allocated to the garden. Perhaps "sufficient" should replace it?
Hi Daniel: Thank you for your explanation of the current water status. I know what you mean about lack of snowpack as here it makes little difference how little or how much rain we get but the snowpack is what will determine our survivability for the year. Drought is just not a "fun" subject. I know from past experiences the word "minimum" does not work and I will admit I let myself get a little carried away as I've had to be involved in the aftermath of the "what went wrong" scenarios afterwards. I will say this, if there was to be a minimum amount of water used on the Himalayan forms of the deciduous Magnolias in the Botanical Garden, just tell me when I can come up there and dig them out of the ground and take them home with me! Do not "tempt" me as I will do it as I've had several of those varieties in the past and lost them the next Spring after I got them to bloom due to graft incompatibilities (grafted on Grandiflora rootstock). If the Himalayans were grafted on Sprengeri then I still have them such as Charles Raffill, Eric Savill, and mollicomata 'Lanarth'. My first choice would be the mollicomata 'Borde Hill' in the Botanical Garden (better keep me away from it, just kidding but I do want that Magnolia) as I have not seen or have had that one before. The pics of that Magnolia in the Asian Garden Forum "knocked my socks off"! Sometimes we have to start with us in order to show that we are willing to lose a few plants to help out a greater good. Now, if only everyone will comply and use less water, more importantly waste less water, then we will have a better idea of how to deal with a long term drought that can be quite dicey for all of us to deal with. Thanks again, Daniel. Jim