By MARGARET CRUSE

As a nonprofit with a mission to provide affordable housing in a very expensive marketplace, we are constantly balancing the need to keep development costs low with our core belief that homes should be built in an environmentally responsible manner.

In 2002, an opportunity came to us through a $50,000 WaterWorks grant from the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) to enhance water conservation efforts, protect water quality, improve drainage and preserve natural habitat on our Roseballen project.

Ken Pritchard at King County DNRP, an Islander himself, encouraged Vashon HouseHold to partner with Northwest Housing Development for in-kind contributions and with King County Water District 19 to enhance the impact of the grant by developing a pilot project that could be used as a demonstration for conservation efforts.

Ironically, I was the general manager of the water district at that time and, with the commissioners, helped forge the parameters of the project with Vashon HouseHold. Now, as project manager for the Roseballen project at Vashon HouseHold, I am seeing the value of that initial partnership.

When Vashon HouseHold purchased the land for Roseballen, we waited several years to procure 19 water units for 19 homes. An original goal of the Roseballen project was to return a portion of the land to agricultural use, as had been its purpose decades ago. The only way to accomplish that goal was to “save” some of the water from household use and designate a portion for farming.

The premise was that rather than the standard planning allocation of 800 gallons per day per household, Roseballen residents would be allocated 600 gallons per day (an easily achievable goal for Vashon HouseHold homeowners and renters). The difference of 200 gallons per day would be allocated to the farmsteads.

For the past five years, farmers on the six plots have been supplying produce to Islanders at the Vashon Farmers Market and from their farms, staying well within their allocation.

Their land leases stipulate they must develop water use plans that include environmentally sound soil management practices, the installation of drip irrigation, the addition of a sub-meter for each farm and a stipulation that they can’t irrigate more than 50 percent of their farm area.

As I summarize the conservation efforts put in place at the Roseballen site, I am struck by how far our grant money has gone in our efforts to enhance the landscape.

We have purchased more than 700 low-maintenance plants and trees, most of which are native, low-water-use Northwest plants. Those plants will be irrigated with drip irrigation until they are established (the first two summers).

The irrigation system, designed by Michael Laurie, an Island water efficiency consultant, is designed to be flexible. When it is no longer needed at Roseballen, we will re-construct it on our next project of 14 homes at the Sunflower Community Land Trust site.

We have been able to apply more than four inches of good topsoil and mulch in both the common areas and on the home sites, which will get our plants off to a good start. During the development of the common area planting process, I was a willing apprentice to retired horticulturalist John Candy. Candy supplied countless volunteer hours to help us put best practices to use and to specify a wonderful variety of hardy plants. The homeowners were delighted to see the fruits of Candy’s labor take shape in late October.

Homeowners at Roseballen sign a ground lease as part of the ownership process prohibiting lawn watering and washing cars on their home-sites. Michael Laurie will be giving classes for the homeowners as they settle in and begin to develop their landscapes.

Their homes have Energy Star washing machines and dishwashers, in addition to Energy Star-rated dryers. Low-flow toilets were installed, and aerators have been supplied for all faucets and showerheads. Water District 19 reads meters at the site every month, rather than every other month as it does for all other customers. This gives us a baseline from which to measure our results. Now, as costs for energy-saving appliances have gone down and homeowners can take advantage of the rebate program offered by Water District 19, saving water is more cost-effective than ever before.

Nineteen families have benefitted from this grant, as have six families wishing to farm commercially, using sustainable farming practices. I have enjoyed watching the landscape being transformed by the opportunity the grant has given us.

Spending time at the Roseballen site during the planning and implementation stage of this grant increased my respect for the homeowner-builders and my amazement at the quality of the community being created. Our thanks to King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks for this grant opportunity.

— Margaret Cruse is a project manager at Vashon HouseHold.