Urban Land - The LRK-designed project, Residences at La Cantera, was recently featured in Urban Land magazine in the article, “The Worth of Water: Becoming Water Wise in an Era of Scarcity.” With water scarcity, population growth, and water quality issues greatly affecting real estate markets and affordability, developers and land use professionals have an increasingly significant role to play in promoting water conservation, efficiency, and reuse. The Residences at La Cantera in San Antonio features a drought-tolerant landscaping strategy centered around the community’s 1.5-acre park. Native and drought-tolerant plants were installed and mulched landscape beds at least four inches deep help retain moisture. Roof runoff and air conditioning condensate are collected in a 10,000-gallon cistern and the accumulated water is used to irrigate the park and renew pond water. The owner estimates this approach provides an annual savings of $8,840 in water costs and $500,000 added asset value in addition to helping protect future water supplies.