Water Wise Watch - January 2023
12.01.23
"New day - new start; new you, New Year! It’s never too late to start anew, merely throw out the old and bring in the new. " - Jean Renee Porter, A New Day
Penguin Awareness Day
Penguins are seabirds that do not fly, with 18 species of penguins all over the world, and they are interesting animals that are unique in many different ways.
Why is it celebrated ?
Penguin Awareness Day is celebrated annually on 20 January 2023 to raise awareness about penguin habits and habitats. The African penguin is the species found along our coasts. South Africa has a population of less than 15 000 breeding pairs at 27 different colonies in South Africa and Namibia. Unfortunately, the African penguin populations have reduced by about 99% already. Predictions are that should this current rate of decline continue, the African penguin will be functionally extinct by 2035.
The reason that penguins are endangered in South Africa is because of different threats such as, competition for their food source of sardines and Cape anchovies, sea water temperature changes (from climate change), disturbance from humans, and oil spills. African penguins are defined as sentinels of ecosystem health. Their decline in numbers is a sure sign that all is not well within the ecosystems that they commonly are found. Action is require urgently from us as caretakers of the Earth to reverse this situation and stem the tide of their decline and demise
Sources
https://www.saambr.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/african-penguin-awareness-day-SAAMBR.pdf
What can be done to save penguins?
Groups that focuses on the conservation of penguins focus on improving breeding success. This entails finding ways to deal with restrictions of breeding habitat and food availability for penguins in the wild, so that raising young penguins can be successful and ensure survival during breeding stage.
- Fishing grounds should be closed where penguins colonies exist, to improve breeding success and chick survival rates.
- Educate fisherman about penguins killed in fishing nets and how to prevent this.
- Put measures in place to improve breeding or nesting colonies, such as preventing habitat degradation.
- Have artificial nest boxes to provided shelter during hot and cold conditions. (This must only be done through accredited organisations).
- Hand-rearing chicks to be raised the and released back into the wild when they reach maturity (This must only be done through accredited organisations).
Commemorate this special day by learning more about how human activities affect penguins and about penguins and their habitat.
Evaluations
December was a month of internal and external landscape and site evaluations. Quarterly evaluations of Rand Water gardens, and vegetable gardens in schools and communities assists Water Wise to monitor the success of their training and to ensure water wise practises are implemented.
Internal evaluations
Rand Water hydrozones their office gardens and landscapes. This is where plants are grouped according to specific water needs. Water Wise advises that your garden should be divided into different hydrozones (high, medium, low and very low water use) to conserve water and prevent overuse. The Water Wise team visits different Rand Water sites each quarter to evaluate gardens and check that they are correctly hydrozoned, maintained, and well mulched.
External evaluations
The Water Wise team works with different schools and communities on vegetable gardening, where they offer training, advise on seedlings, provide tools, and give gardening tips. Each site is carefully evaluated to assist the team with training requirements of the site. This assists the schools and communities to better understand how to grow vegetables in a water wise manner. This saves them time, money and water, while giving them a healthy crop of food for their kitchens. 
Sowing seeds in egg trays
Having a garden can be expnsive at times, but there are different ways to save costs. One example is to reuse old egg trays to sow seeds. It's free and you are reducing waste too.
How to do it:
- Select seeds that are suitable for sowing in trays.
- Fill the little egg pockets in the trays with potting soil.
- Poke small holes into the soil with your finger.
- Plant the seeds in the pockets and cover the seeds gently with potting soil. Remember that seeds should be covered with no more soil than the width of the seed.
- Place the egg trays where you can easily water them without damaging the trays.
- The soil should not be allowed to dry out (depending on the location and sunshine, you may need to water the seed tray a little every day).
- If possible, place the tray in a north-facing window.
- Once the seeds start to germinate ensure they have enough sunlight so that they don’t become drawn and fall over.
- Examples of seeds to start considering for autumn could be cabbage, spinach, and peas.
Sources
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/egg-carton-seed-tray.html
Irrigation: Lawn
TIP: Do not irrigate your lawn during dormancy (mainly winter periods) to save water
Its natural for cool season and warm season grass to go into a dormant stage , which is also known as a resting period for the grass. This is a time for passive growth and respiration. Unfortunately, lawn is sometimes irrigated even during its dormant stage, just to keep it green throughout the year. Irrigating lawn during a resting stage requires irrigation as much as twice a day. This is really not necessary as this ends up using vast amounts of water for a plant that should be in a state of dormancy. Allowing your lawn to rest saves water (and money), and results in almost zero maintenance. It also inhibits weed growth.
Sources
https://gardentabs.com/when-does-grass-come-out-of-dormancy/
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