Developers dump the fountains as water concerns grow

In the plans for a new residential community in Clear Lake, the words "beautiful ditch" describe a hole in the ground filled with landscaped grasses and native plants requiring little maintenance. In the past, this area would have been filled with water like a pond and perhaps had a fountain shooting skyward from its center.

This so-called dry detention method of collecting runoff temporarily is being used more frequently by developers as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional detention ponds ubiquitous in master-planned communities across the Houston area.

"These features can be quite attractive and in my opinion can be comparable to backing up to a lake spraying water in the air," Will Holder, president of Trendmaker Homes, said Wednesday during a panel discussion on managing water resources amid the booming Texas economy. Trendmaker is developing the Clear Lake project.

At Cross Creek Ranch, a residential development in Fulshear, there are indigenous grasses that don't need much mowing or watering; "purple pipe" meant to carry reclaimed water; and a polishing basin where water from dishwashers and washing machines in the homes is cleaned and reused for irrigation.

"Reuse and conservation within the home and within the communities themselves are really the future," said Holder, whose company developed Cross Creek Ranch but later sold it.

With the Texas population projected to spike in the coming decades, it is critical to plan for the increased water demands the new residents will bring, panelist Carlos Rubinstein, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, said at the luncheon hosted by the Houston chapter of the Urban Land Institute.

Water conditions remain strained since the state's 2011 drought.

More than half of Texas, Rubinstein said, is still experiencing moderate to significant drought conditions.

He expressed optimism over the 2013 voter-supported measure that created a $2 billion fund to advance water projects in Texas over the next 50 years and enhance financing methods to pay for those projects.

"This time next year we'll be cutting the first checks of the$2 billion fund," Rubinstein said.

Peter Houghton, chairman of the North Fort Bend Water Authority, said there needs to be better plans in place for reusing and conserving water.

As the area grows, he said, the authority has been debating whether to require developers to install purple pipe in their projects. Such pipe systems carry recycled nonpotable water from sanitary treatment plants.

Even as water gets more expensive, usage is rising.

Some of that is due to growth, but an uneducated consumer population is also partly to blame, Houghton said.

Commercial developers are also looking for ways to incorporate water-saving measures in their projects.

At its new office development at Interstate 10 and North Eldridge, Trammell Crow Co. is installing rainwater collection systems for irrigation.

Natural grasses and native landscaping plans are being used more often to reduce outdoor irrigation.

Such features help developers earn points toward green building certification and reduce operating expenses in commercial structures.

"Today, water is not a big component of that," said Trammell Crow's Brandon Houston, "but it will be over time."