Smart Water Use at Rogue Water Solutions

Although El Niño has brought the Rogue Valley some relief from the drought conditions of last summer, warmer temperatures and long dry spells are undoubtedly in our future.

Local environmen-talist Andy Fischer created Rogue Water Solutions with this in mind. The landscape company focuses on land and farmscapes that work with the changing needs of our environment. 

“Rogue Water Solutions started as a response to the drought and ongoing climate change,” Andy said. “We are focused on water conservation and using water most consciously and efficiently. Water is life and we aim to provide smart ways to protect this precious resource.”
To do that, Andy and his team provide consultation about, and sales of, water tanks, rain water harvesting, ponds and swale construction, rain gardens and grey water systems. They are also landscape contractors and can set up full-scale irrigation systems. 

Andy moved to Ashland in 2002 after completing a master’s degree in ecology and environmental studies at the University of Oregon in 1991.

“I have been interested in ecological design and permaculture since I learned about the field in 1991,” he says. He has also spent ten years teaching in the U.S. and abroad about permaculture, a system of agricultural design that mimics the natural ecosystem as much as possible. Rogue Water Solutions is a spinoff of Andy’s ecological design company, Sacred Earth Design. 

“After working for years as a field ecologist, I learned nature is the best ecological designer,” he says. “As I create ecological design and installations for clients in home and farm scale landscapes, I use ecological principles to work with nature. Using this approach we can provide healthy, beautiful and abundant landscapes that require less outside input and energy.”

Ecologically designed landscapes also use water—and money—wisely. Grants are available through Jackson County Soil and Water to pay for 50 percent of the cost of a water system, Andy says.
 “Several of my clients have already taken advantage of these grants, which helps make these systems very affordable,” he said. “The payback period for the rainwater harvest systems can be under five years, especially if clients are trucking in water to fill their tanks.”

Rogue Water Solutions has a retail store at 1679 Jackson Road in Ashland. Customers can buy products to set up their own water systems, or can take advantage of the company’s full service design and installation. Delivery is available to properties throughout the Rogue Valley.  
For more info, the phone number is 541-488-0248 or at roguewatersolutions.com. You can also like them on Facebook.