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Trees on city streets cope with drought by drinking from leaky pipes

Urban trees lining streets fare better in dry spells than those in parks – now it seems that leaky water pipes are the reason for their endurance

Trees growing on city streets are more resistant to drought than those in parks because they are drinking from an unusual water source: leaky pipes. After long periods with little rain, water levels and sap flow tend to decrease more in trees growing in parks compared with those in streets, but it was unclear why. Since street trees can’t get much of this from rainwater, which falls on concrete and drains into the city’s sewers, Poirier says the most likely explanation is that it is coming from Montreal’s leaky pipes, which lose 500 million litres of water per day.

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