How can we create irrigation professionals, prepared to handle the demands of LEED-driven irrigation design parameters?
A good place to start is terminology: SMART irrigation, scheduling with ET, reclaimed water systems, subsurface, dripline, deep root and point source systems … these are all new terms that an irrigation professional needs to comprehend.
Professionals who sit still will watch the irrigation industry be taken over by those who have the initiative to learn and incorporate new knowledge into their offerings. Are you going to become one of those helping to ensure irrigation professionals are seen as purveyors of water efficient technologies? Or are you going to be replaced by new entrants who have the qualifications demanded by LEED projects and municipal water bylaws?
Recently, I audited a new irrigation system. The lawn areas were adjacent to the sidewalks, so the city requested an audit to ensure the water was going where it had been designed to go. The irrigation company had been installing and managing systems for 15 years, so I expected a well-installed system, one that avoided watering hardscapes. I was shocked by this particular installation. There was no rhyme nor reason for the 19- to 33-foot spaces between rotor heads, among other infractions.
Creating professionals
How can we move the current state of irrigation? We need well-prepared professionals who can contribute to water management and conservation, who know the difference between subsurface and online dripline installation techniques, and the devices that must accompany these designs for continued operational success.
We are staring down a double-barreled shotgun. One side is loaded with legislation, regulation, bylaws, rules and regulations so stringent that our industry may not survive. The other barrel is loaded with incompetence, unprofessionalism, uneducated, non-caring participants who, due to no certification or licensing requirements, are flocking to this industry.
Why not? All it takes to go into business is a little cash to buy the product and some mode of transportation to get to the jobsite. I see it every day, and every day I hear of water-wasting irrigation systems being installed for the lowest dollar amount, in order to get to the next job, with no thought made toward service. Without service, everything drops in efficiency over time. There are systems operating that should be shut down because they waste more water than they deliver. Is this really the picture we irrigators wish to paint for our industry? No wonder LEED has called for eliminating landscape irrigation, in order to attain its highly sought-after qualification points.
Areas for improvement
The following points might help achieve our goal of a professional industry promoting water conservation.
Educational offerings need to be delivered at the student’s level of comprehension, so we stop chasing them away from training. Our industry’s success is based on how well those that practice irrigation understand and apply what they have learned. Theory combined with hands-on work is a must.
Entry-level certifications need to be created to help individuals get on the certification path. Currently, most certification examinations require college-, if not university-level, comprehension. Most who work in this industry do so because they like the work and/or did not have the opportunity to go to college or university.
Associations must be for the members, which means that entry-level dues must be at a rate contractors feel provides value. If not, they will not join. If they do not join, then how do we educate them?
Manufacturers need to call upon distributors to have their frontline employees IA-certified. These people give advice to newcomers all the time — it must be correct. Distributors must insist that their customers have either a certification or license, allowing them to purchase product. If all companies doing irrigation work had at least one person certified, it would be a massive step forward toward professionalism.
Contractors need to promote their credentials to their clients so the trunk slammers cannot secure work. SELL your expertise. Contractors need to keep current by taking annual training. I am always amazed at how quickly the irrigation industry changes from year to year.
If all else fails, then government will need to step in and require certification or licensing so that the water purveyors have enough water to go around in times of drought.
We are already witnessing legislation that is not irrigation-friendly. We are to blame, as the powers-that-be see irrigation as unnecessary, a luxury for the rich. If we sit still and do nothing, our hands will become further bound with regulations from those who are not as informed. Our business will become increasingly controlled by others. Get involved within your associations, and help move irrigation into a professional trade ... or sit still, and the new residents will fill the gap.
Lorne Haveruk is an Ontario-based water resource consultant, irrigation designer, author, speaker and educator.