Canon City Xeriscape Demo Grant Application

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. . DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT: 1. Provide a summary description of your proposed project. Be sure to provide a description of the need for your project, how you would implement your project, and the participants in your project. Description of pro;ect and pro;ect need: As the provider of water to the greater Canon City area, the Canon City Water Department recently implemented a Water Conservation Plan. One of the goals of this plan is to educate the public about water conservation, including the benefits of xeriscaping. It is important that our citizens discover that xeriscaping is not simply rocks and cactus, and that this alternative method of landscaping can be extremely attractive. Neither the City of Canon City, nor Fremont County, currently has any model of xeriscape with which to educate the public. Lack of planning, funds, and an appropriate location were all elements which affected the City's ability to provide such a model. The city is currently constructing a new Police Department/ Municipal Court building. Landscaping on other municipal buildings has historically consisted of the more traditional, high water demand plants and Kentucky Bluegrass. It seems obvious that with this new facility, the city needs to "practice what we preach". While we have chosen to xeriscape the lot, we have also seen this as an opportunity to provide the only xeriscape demonstration garden in our region. This garden can be utilized by various agencies and the City in educating the public about this choice in landscaping. Signage which identifies each plant and its water needs (very low, low, or moderate), as well as a brochure which identifies xeriscaping practices and irrigation systems and needs, will be developed to make this truly an educational model. The Fremont County Cooperative Extension is very enthusiastic about this model, which will make educational sessions on xeriscapes more effective. As stated above, there is no other educational xeriscape model in Fremont County. The city of Canon City would like to provide this demonstration garden to our area citizens, but is unable to do so effectively without the financial assistance of granting agencies such as yours. A $5,000 grant from your agency would assist in offsetting some of the up-front expenses inherent to a model such as this. The goal of the demonstration model is to promote water conservation landscaping practices to provide for future reduction of per unit and per capita water consumption. Only through demonstrational education of xeriscaping practices can we hope to achieve this goal.