Water Conservation and Xeriscaping

Waterwise gardening, drought-tolerant landscaping, rainwater harvesting, dry climate gardens, irrigation systems, greywater use.

Living, landscaping, and gardening in a dry climate

Living, landscaping, and gardening in a dry climate

Regardless of one's opinion about global warming, there can be no argument that water is a precious, limited, and increasingly costly resource in New Mexico. Both municipal bodies and individual citizens are faced with the challenge of making the most efficient use of available water.

The ABQ-BERNCO collection includes many items that can help you make the most of every drop, handbooks on:

  • waterwise landscaping using native drought-tolerant plants
  • dry-climate gardening
  • catching and utilizing rainwater
  • using graywater in your landscape
  • waterwise garden design

Xeriscaping (a combination formed from the Greek word for "dry", and "landscaping") does not have to be "zero-scaping" -- a xeriscaped property can be a thing of beauty as well as waterwise, using native plants to create water-efficient ecosystems.

The mulching page helps you find resources for techniques to keep precious moisture in the soil.

The City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, and the State of New Mexico are all vitally interested in maintaining and protecting our water resources, and you will find links here to water conservation information and programs from those entities.