A friend just turned me on to a new proposal by the EPA to ban water features, or at least that’s how the headline came through on the blurb she sent me. As it turns out (or maybe I should say, “as it appears to me”), the EPA is proposing that ornamental water features will be disallowed under the EPA’s new “Water Sense”  designation program. This program provides standards for new home builders to meet. I’d liken it to the green building program standards. What the EPA is saying is that “…these water features serve no functional or practical purpose, their water use is not considered efficient.” (section 4.1.4).

My personal response is that water features provide purpose. They provide a noise break in city areas where traffic noise is bothersome. They provide meditation points in the garden. In my own garden, my small, potted water feature provides a source of fresh, recirculating water for birds, bees and other insects that visit it daily. As well, it provides habitat for water plants. It does help us refocus our “sound attention” away from overhead airplane traffic and the buzz of nearby busy streets. IMHO: these are both functional and practical purposes. Plus, the water feature itself holds less than a bathtub full of water that recirculates, so very little water is used. And, as I’ve already pointed out, the water provides habitat and a watering source for wildlife. My aesthetic enjoyment of it is just one of its many positives.

Various organizations such as the International Professional Pond Contractors Association, I believe, are asking for revisions to the designation program to clarify that some systems be allowed under the program.

If you would like to share your thoughts with the EPA on this new standard, comments are being accepted until July 21, 2008.

More information on this proposal and links to comment are available at:

• http://www.landscapeonline.com/research/article/10863 
• http://www.epa.gov/watersense/specs/homes.htm