CREJ

32 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / June 2020 ELEMENTS Landscape Architecture Total Hydrology Planning: Using Water to Drive Community T otal hydrology planning is a meth- odology that award-winning land- scape architecture firm Consilium Design has developed to identify and utilize all water resources on a project site. This cus- tomized, holistic, insightful approach maps all water as a basis for site design, maximizing and manipulating all on and off-site water flow for beneficial use. We apply appropriate tech- nologies, analysis, management, and design, in response to the pervasive water supply issues that plague the West and other areas. This radical approach is the basis for our design. Water, civilization and the growth of cities. Throughout history, cities and civilizations have risen and fallen because of water. Since ancient times people have depended on and harnessed water to survive, build their cities and grow their civilizations. The examples abound from Angkor Wat, 12th century BC; Jordan, 6th century BC; and Maya, 20th century BC to the early 16th century. Innovative water strategies have been a part of American history as well. Thomas Jefferson used rainwater capture to irrigate crops and gardens at his hilltop estate at Monticello. Here in Colorado, Gen. William Jackson Palmer, founder of the Foun- tain Colony, later to be named Colorado Springs, established the El Paso Ditch Co., the first in the territory. They constructed over 60 miles of irri- gation canals and runnels along major streets to create a shady urban tree lined streetscape. What is total hydrology planning? Strategies to bring a site’s water supply and demand as close to balance as possible. When the relation- ship between climatic conditions and site-spe- cific dynamics are well understood, projects can be designed with resiliency to storm events and drought. Planning and design. New efficiencies in tradi- tional water infrastructure can be accomplished through innovative land planning at the begin- ning of the development process. Reducing the de- velopment footprint of neighborhoods and com- munities reduces the linear foot runs of water, sanitary sewer and the developed flows, scaling down stormwater management systems, as well as the amount of irrigated landscape. More effi- cient patterns and connectivity of streets allows for more frequent internal looping of the system to better balance water pressure, reduce line sizes and phasing of construction. More efficient, compact lot sizes reduce the Craig Karn, ASLA, ULI, NAHB Principal and Founder, Consilium Design The most water-efficient, sustainable landscape for any land is the predevelopment, native landscape. Since ancient times people have depended on and har- nessed water to survive, build their cities and grow their civilizations.