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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The reliable way to reduce water use and runoff on an office campus is to work in sequence: measure current irrigation, inspect where water is being lost, reduce landscape demand through site-appropriate planting and soil practices, tune irrigation controls and delivery, and then capture or infiltrate runoff where the site can safely support it. Irrigation is the primary source of outdoor water use for most commercial and institutional buildings, but the amount a campus can save depends on its climate, irrigated area, orientation, plants, soils, slopes, drainage, and existing equipment. EPA WaterSense describes the program in Types of Facilities; it does not assign one savings percentage to every campus.
This guide gives facilities managers, grounds teams, sustainability staff, and contractors a practical program that can be adapted to local conditions without assuming a particular climate, soil, water rate, or stormwater code.
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Start with a campus water-and-runoff baseline
Do not begin by replacing plants or changing controller runtimes. First establish where water is used, where it leaves the property, and which problems are operational rather than design-related. A baseline lets you verify whether a project reduced demand instead of merely changing the appearance of the landscape.
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Use total site water records where available, then isolate landscape irrigation. A dedicated irrigation meter makes abnormal use and leaks easier to identify and, in some jurisdictions, can affect wastewater charges. EPA recommends separate irrigation metering as part of commercial landscape management in WaterSense at Work Section 5.1: Landscaping.
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Record at least 12 months of meter readings when the history exists. Keep the billing period, meter reading, irrigated area, major weather events, and unusual work such as line repairs or new planting in the same log. If a separate meter is not available, document how the irrigation estimate was derived and treat it as an estimate rather than a measured total.
Walk the property during and after irrigation
A desktop plan will miss broken heads, clogged emitters, pressure problems, and water crossing pavement. Walk every zone while it operates and again after a watering event. Mark the location and severity of:
- Leaking valves, pipes, fittings, heads, and emitters.
- Broken, tilted, blocked, or mismatched spray heads.
- Overspray on sidewalks, parking areas, building walls, and roads.
- Pooling, muddy patches, erosion channels, and water leaving the property.
- Dry spots beside wet areas, which can indicate poor distribution, compaction, or blocked emitters.
- Compacted soil, exposed roots, bare ground, steep slopes, and areas where turf is difficult to maintain.
- Roof downspouts, paved drainage paths, existing swales, inlets, and low points.
Photograph conditions from the same viewpoints each inspection. Draw the findings on a current landscape plan and identify each irrigation zone, valve, controller, backflow assembly, meter, and drainage connection. Confirm underground utilities before excavation or grading work.
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Use a water budget as a design comparison, not a promise
EPA’s WaterSense Water Budget Tool uses local climate data and user inputs to compare estimated water use for landscape and irrigation designs with typical new construction. Use it to test alternatives such as less turf, different planting areas, or more efficient irrigation. EPA explicitly says the tool is not an irrigation-scheduling tool and does not estimate actual project savings. Your meter readings and field audits remain the basis for performance verification.
Set practical performance measures
Choose measures that a facilities team can repeat monthly or quarterly:
- Total irrigation volume and irrigation volume per irrigated area.
- Number of leaks, overspray defects, and failed components found and corrected.
- Controller schedule changes and the reason for each change.
- Area converted from high-demand turf or conventional spray to lower-demand planting or microirrigation.
- Runoff observations after representative storms, including pooling, erosion, and discharge from downspouts.
- Plant survival and supplemental watering during establishment.
- Maintenance hours, repair costs, and any water or stormwater incentive received.
Keep weather and occupancy-related changes with the record. A wetter season or a construction closure can reduce water use without any landscape improvement, while plant establishment can temporarily increase demand after a retrofit.
Reduce landscape demand through design and soil management
Preserve functioning vegetation and soil
The lowest-demand landscape is often the one that does not need to be rebuilt. Retain healthy native vegetation and existing soil where feasible. During construction or renovation, keep heavy equipment off planting areas and protect tree root zones. Compaction reduces infiltration and root access to water, so designate equipment routes and material-storage areas before work starts.
Where soil has already been damaged, have the landscape designer or soil professional specify an appropriate restoration method. Amend and contour soil to retain water, and address steep or eroding areas through suitable grading or terracing. Deeper-rooted plants can help stabilize unavoidable slopes, but plant selection must still match the local climate, soil, sun, and wind.
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Choose plants for the actual site
Select trees, shrubs, turf, and ground cover for the campus’s climate and exposure rather than choosing a generic “drought-tolerant” list. Evaluate soil texture and depth, drainage, salt or other site stresses, sun and shade, prevailing wind, reflected heat from buildings and pavement, and the level of foot traffic. Regionally appropriate plants generally require less supplemental irrigation once established than plants poorly matched to the site.
Keep a planting schedule that identifies each plant group, its intended mature size, exposure, soil requirements, and irrigation zone. This gives the contractor and maintenance team a common reference when replacements are needed.
Hydrozone by water need
Group plants with similar irrigation requirements into the same hydrozone. Separate high-demand lawn, moderate-demand ornamental beds, low-demand native or adapted plants, and areas that should receive only establishment watering. Do not mix a shade-loving bed with a full-sun lawn on one schedule simply because they share a valve. Hydro zoning makes controller changes more precise and prevents overwatering plants that need less water.
Keep turf where it has a job
Place turf where people use it for recreation, events, circulation, or another defined function. Reduce ornamental turf in narrow strips, steep banks, corners, and areas that are difficult to mow or irrigate. EPA notes that most turf requires more water than planted beds; converting unsuitable turf is therefore a demand-reduction decision, not merely a cosmetic change. Preserve accessible routes and gathering areas when redesigning lawn.
Use mulch and shade strategically
Mulch in planted beds reduces evaporation and protects soil from temperature swings and raindrop impact. Keep mulch practices compatible with trunks, drainage inlets, and fire or pest requirements at the site. Strategically placed shade trees can reduce demand in shaded areas, but account for mature canopy, roots, utilities, visibility, and future maintenance before planting.
Plan for establishment separately from long-term operation
New plants need an establishment period that may require more frequent, targeted watering than the mature landscape. Write an establishment plan with a defined handoff date, inspection frequency, replacement responsibility, and transition criteria for reducing irrigation. Without that handoff, a temporary high-water schedule can become permanent.
Tune irrigation delivery and controls
Repair the distribution system before changing runtimes
Inspect heads, nozzles, emitters, valves, pipes, pressure regulation, filters, backflow equipment, and controller communication. Correct leaks, broken heads, clogged emitters, low or excessive pressure, and overspray onto hardscape. Verify that each head has matched precipitation and coverage appropriate to its zone. A longer runtime cannot compensate for a badly distributed zone; it usually increases runoff and wet spots.
Schedule for plant need and weather
Replace calendar-based watering habits with schedules that respond to plant needs and local weather. Adjust frequency and duration for season, rainfall, temperature, wind, shade, soil, and observed moisture. Watering deeply enough for the soil and plants, while allowing the soil to accept the application, is preferable to repeated short applications that run off. Confirm the result in the field rather than assuming the controller display reflects actual delivery.
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EPA’s Watering Tips identifies weather-based and soil-moisture-based controllers as ways to adjust watering to weather, landscape conditions, or measured soil moisture. A controller upgrade is useful only when the zones, sensors, wiring, and maintenance practices support it. Document sensor location and test the sensor after installation.
Use microirrigation where it fits
Drip and other microirrigation systems deliver low-pressure, low-flow water near plant root zones. They are often suitable for planted beds, tree rings, and narrow planting areas where spray would hit pavement or be carried by wind. Protect them from damage, provide filtration and pressure control as required by the design, and inspect for clogged or disconnected emitters.
EPA’s Microirrigation guidance reports that microirrigation uses 20 to 50 percent less water than conventional sprinkler systems as a general technology range. That is not a guaranteed campus result: actual performance depends on design, pressure, maintenance, plant layout, controller settings, and the sprinkler system being replaced.
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Use efficient products with compatible systems
EPA recommends WaterSense-labeled irrigation products, including controllers and spray sprinkler bodies, which are independently certified for efficiency and performance relative to standard products. Before specifying one, verify current certification, valve-system and wiring compatibility, pressure requirements, zoning, freeze protection where relevant, and local procurement or plumbing requirements. A labeled component cannot correct an incorrectly designed zone.
Make inspections routine
Assign a named person or contractor to inspect irrigation at a defined interval and after major weather events. The checklist should include meter movement when all zones are off, controller date and time, seasonal settings, rain or soil-moisture sensor operation, leaks, overspray, clogged filters, emitter damage, and signs of runoff. Record the repair and the date rather than relying on memory.
Capture and infiltrate runoff where the site allows
Use rain gardens for suitable drainage areas
A rain garden is a shallow planted depression designed to receive runoff from roofs, driveways, sidewalks, or other impervious areas. It temporarily stores water, allows infiltration where soils and groundwater conditions permit, and can reduce the need for supplemental irrigation in the planted area.
EPA’s November 2023 commercial landscaping guidance says rain gardens can reduce runoff volume by up to 90 percent. “Up to” is a maximum potential cited in the guidance, not a prediction for every campus. Performance depends on drainage area, soil infiltration, storage depth, overflow design, groundwater, slope, rainfall, maintenance, and whether the feature is correctly connected to the runoff source. The guidance is available in WaterSense at Work: Section 5.1 Landscaping.
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For each proposed rain garden, verify the contributing area, soil and infiltration conditions, groundwater elevation, slope stability, building and pavement protection, underground utilities, overflow route, access for maintenance, and local design or permit requirements. Do not direct water toward foundations or create a depression that remains saturated when the planting palette requires well-drained soil.
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Direct downspouts only to safe receiving areas
Directing a downspout toward a planted area can keep roof water on site, but only where the receiving soil, slope, overflow, and building protection are suitable. Use a defined conveyance or stabilized outlet where concentrated flow would erode soil. Keep overflow connected to a safe drainage route so an intense storm does not send water across entrances, accessible paths, or occupied spaces.
Evaluate permeable surfaces and vegetated conveyance
Permeable paving, vegetated areas, swales, and other green-infrastructure concepts can reduce runoff or slow its movement. Their suitability depends on soils, slope, groundwater, drainage, utilities, structural loading, winter conditions where applicable, and local codes. Have the civil or landscape professional coordinate surface grades, subgrade preparation, underdrains, overflow, and maintenance access with the existing stormwater system.
Manage pollutants as well as volume
Runoff can carry fertilizer, pesticides, sediment, and other pollutants from roofs and landscapes to local waterways. Avoid overwatering, keep soil covered, stabilize disturbed ground, and calibrate fertilizer and pesticide practices to the landscape need. Inspect construction areas and newly graded slopes after storms so sediment is corrected at its source rather than washed into an inlet.
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Stormwater utilities and municipalities may offer technical assistance or incentives for green infrastructure. Requirements and billing treatment vary by jurisdiction. EPA advises facilities to check local stormwater programs; begin that review before finalizing a rain garden, permeable surface, downspout connection, or grading change.
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There is no universally best landscape conversion or irrigation setting without campus-specific information. Compare proposals using the following questions:
- Demand reduction: Does the option remove unnecessary irrigated area, improve distribution, or reduce evaporation? Is the claimed result measured, modeled, or only a general technology range?
- Runoff management: Does it retain, infiltrate, slow, or safely convey runoff? What happens during an event larger than the design condition?
- Site fit: Does it work with existing valves, zones, pressure, soils, slopes, drainage, utilities, building setbacks, and access routes?
- Capital and maintenance: What construction, controls, inspection, replacement, mowing, pruning, filter cleaning, and sediment-removal work will be required?
- Establishment and resilience: How long will plants need supplemental watering, and how will the design perform during drought, heat, or unusually wet periods?
- Compliance and funding: Which local stormwater, plumbing, accessibility, landscape, or irrigation rules apply, and are incentives or technical-assistance programs available?
- Operational capacity: Can the campus staff or contracted provider inspect, repair, and document the system at the required frequency?
Use the Water Budget Tool to compare design alternatives, then validate the preferred alternative in the field. A qualified local landscape, irrigation, or civil professional should confirm site conditions and requirements before construction.
Implement the work in manageable phases
Phase 1: first 30 days
- Identify the person responsible for water data, irrigation operation, landscape maintenance, and stormwater coordination.
- Collect available meter and billing history and determine whether irrigation is separately metered.
- Obtain current landscape, irrigation, utility, grading, and drainage plans.
- Walk every irrigation zone during operation and after watering; map leaks, overspray, pooling, erosion, compacted areas, and runoff paths.
- Repair obvious leaks, broken heads, failed valves, and uncontrolled overspray before larger design work.
- Confirm local stormwater contacts, incentives, and approval requirements.
Phase 2: design and procurement
- Define the campus’s functional turf areas and candidate areas for lower-demand planting.
- Protect retained trees, native vegetation, and soil during construction planning.
- Develop hydrozones and select plants for local climate, exposure, soil, and intended use.
- Choose irrigation delivery by zone, considering microirrigation for suitable planted beds and efficient spray equipment where spray remains appropriate.
- Identify runoff opportunities such as rain gardens, vegetated areas, permeable surfaces, or downspout routing, subject to soil, slope, drainage, utility, and code review.
- Compare alternatives in the Water Budget Tool and document assumptions, while clearly separating modeled estimates from measured performance.
Phase 3: construction and commissioning
- Stake protected areas, equipment routes, storage zones, drainage paths, and utility constraints before excavation.
- Prevent avoidable soil compaction and keep construction runoff from leaving the site.
- Install grading, soil improvements, planting, irrigation, controls, and runoff features according to coordinated drawings.
- Test each irrigation zone for coverage, pressure, leaks, overspray, sensor operation, and controller communication.
- Test overflow routes and inspect runoff features during the first suitable rain or controlled flow event.
- Give the maintenance team a zone map, plant schedule, controller settings, inspection checklist, warranty information, and establishment plan.
Phase 4: verify and adjust
- Record meter use and maintenance findings on a defined schedule.
- Reinspect after seasonal changes, major storms, repairs, and plant establishment milestones.
- Compare water use with the baseline after allowing for weather and establishment conditions.
- Correct wet spots, dry spots, erosion, clogged emitters, failed sensors, or plant losses promptly.
- Update schedules and planting records when zones, plants, or site uses change.
Troubleshoot by symptom
The meter shows high use when the campus is closed
Check for a stuck valve, underground leak, broken pipe, failed controller schedule, or a zone running outside its expected time. Confirm that all controllers are accounted for and compare meter movement with each zone’s operation. A separate irrigation meter can make this investigation faster.
Water is pooling beside dry plants
Look for mismatched nozzles, uneven pressure, blocked or disconnected emitters, compacted soil, poor grading, or a plant mix with incompatible water needs. Repair distribution and correct the hydrozone before increasing runtime.
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Runoff reaches pavement during ordinary irrigation
Check overspray, application rate, slope, soil infiltration, and cycle duration. Re-aim or replace heads, use shorter cycles with appropriate soak time where the design permits, and consider microirrigation for suitable planted beds. Do not solve a distribution problem by simply watering longer.
A rain garden stays wet or erodes
Inspect the contributing drainage area, inlet energy, soil infiltration, outlet and overflow, sediment accumulation, and plant suitability. Protect the inlet, stabilize flow, remove sediment, and obtain local design advice before changing grades or adding an underdrain.
Plants fail after a low-water conversion
Check whether the plants match exposure and soil, whether establishment watering was reduced too quickly, and whether irrigation coverage changed during construction. Replace unsuitable plants with regionally appropriate choices and document a clear transition from establishment to mature operation.
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Facilities managers should own the water baseline, budget, contracts, and reporting. Grounds teams or landscape contractors should perform zone inspections, repairs, pruning, mulch management, and plant-health observations. Irrigation contractors should maintain valves, filters, pressure regulation, controllers, sensors, and distribution testing. Landscape or civil designers should verify grading, soil, planting, drainage, utilities, and local requirements for capital work. Sustainability teams can normalize water use by area, track runoff projects, and coordinate incentive documentation.
Put the operating requirements in the maintenance contract: inspection frequency, response time for leaks, controller review, meter-log format, sensor testing, establishment handoff, runoff-feature maintenance, and records that must be returned to the campus. Review the program at least annually and whenever a building, parking area, tenant use, irrigation zone, or drainage route changes.
What a defensible result looks like
A credible campus result includes a documented baseline, a map of zones and drainage, repair records, design assumptions, commissioning observations, and post-installation meter data. It distinguishes measured water reduction from EPA’s general technology ranges and from modeled comparisons. EPA’s published figures provide useful context: microirrigation is described as using 20 to 50 percent less water than conventional sprinklers in general, and rain gardens are described as capable of reducing runoff volume by up to 90 percent under suitable conditions. Neither figure should be converted into a guaranteed campus outcome.
The strongest program is therefore not a single product or landscape style. It is a repeatable operating cycle: measure, inspect, design for local conditions, install and commission carefully, maintain, and verify with the campus’s own data.
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