California’s super bloom hasn’t materialized the way it did last spring, but that hasn’t stopped Woodland Hills homeowners Ron Gales and Andrea Fields from enjoying a spectacular wildflower bloom of their own. Walking up to the house in springtime, it’s hard to believe the landscape was “an ugly lawn filled with weeds” when they purchased the home in 2009.
You may not notice water in the ground under your feet, but it plays an important role in keeping you alive. Plants draw water from soil into their roots and use it to grow. If there’s not enough, the resulting drought may have impacts that spread across local water supplies, regional agriculture and even international food prices. NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission was the first satellite system to directly measure global changes in the water stored underground in the world’s largest aquifers. GRACE Follow-On, scheduled to launch this month, will continue this important task.
San Diego, Calif. – The San Diego County Taxpayers Association named the San Diego County Water Authority’s Emergency & Carryover Storage Project as a finalist for its prestigious “Regional Golden Watchdog Award” in the 23rd annual Golden Watchdog and Fleece Awards.
The “Goldens” recognize the best and worst in local government spending, decision-making, and efficiency. Winners will be announced at the sold-out #Goldens awards dinner on Thursday, May 17. The Taxpayers Association (@sdcta) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, dedicated to promoting accountable, cost-effective and efficient government.
“We’re very excited to recognize the good work done this year,” said Haney Hong, President and CEO of the Taxpayers Association. “The Golden Awards Dinner is a great time to acknowledge local government’s biggest achievements and also the flops from the past year. We appreciate all the elected officials and notable San Diegans who come from across the region to participate in this event.”
In 2016, the Water Authority and Poseidon Water received the Grand Golden Watchdog from the Taxpayers Association for the Carlsbad Desalination Project for “stretching taxpayer dollars through cooperation between the public and private sectors.”
This year, the Water Authority is up for an award for its Emergency & Carryover Storage Project. The Project is composed of a system of reservoirs, interconnected pipelines, and pumping stations designed to make water available to the San Diego region if imported water deliveries are interrupted. The project added 90,100 acre-feet of water storage capacity for emergency use, and more than 105,000 acre-feet of carryover storage capacity as a hedge against dry years.
The project won an Award of Merit in the 2016 Global Best Projects competition held by the industry publication Engineering News-Record. It was also named Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association, and it won the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2017 International Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award. For more about the project, click here.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two other water districts that agreed to fund the California Waterfix tunnel project announced today the formation of a public agency that will be charged with its design and construction. The MWD, which serves as a major supplier of water to the Los Angeles region, along with the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Zone 7 Water Agency in the Bay Area, formed the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Joint Powers Authority, or DCA, which will hold its first meeting on Thursday.
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works introduced water infrastructure legislation last week aimed at increasing water storage, providing flood protection, increasing local stakeholder input, deepening ports, and maintaining the navigability of inland waterways across the country. Additionally, America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 would invest in the maintenance and construction of water and wastewater infrastructure and the development of a strong water utility workforce. The $2.8 billion legislation would also authorize and deauthorize a number of specific water infrastructure projects across the country.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two other water districts that agreed to fund the California Waterfix tunnel project announced Monday the formation of a public agency that will be charged with its design and construction. The $17 billion project is designed to divert water from the Sacramento River as it enters the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and carry it to existing federal and state pumping stations in the southern part of the delta through one or two 35-mile tunnels.
The top United States official at the international agency charged with overseeing efforts to stem ongoing water pollution in the Tijuana River Valley stepped down on Friday. The departure of Edward Drusina, former commissioner of the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, or IBWC, comes as the agency continues to face legal attacks from South Bay cities that routinely shutter beaches due to pollution from south of the border.
It’s only May, and it’s already shaping up to be a stressful summer for many western states. Low mountain snowpack is a big part of the problem. Both the mighty Rio Grande and the Colorado River are experiencing low flow in places, prompting concerns about everything from water shortages to the plight of suffocating fish. U.S. officials have already launched rescue missions for an endangered minnow in New Mexico, where parts of the Rio Grande have already started to run dry—an unusual event so early in the season.
The last time water was this scarce in the Klamath Basin, a rugged agricultural area straddling the California-Oregon border, farmers clashed with U.S. marshals and opened locked canal gates with blowtorches so they could irrigate. Nearly 10,000 agriculture activists from around the U.S. later converged on the region to hold symbolic “bucket brigade” protests. Months of unrest ended after then-Vice President Dick Cheney personally intervened and worked behind the scenes to have water delivered to the growers – a decision that tribal fishing communities downstream blamed for killing 68,000 salmon in the fall of 2002.
If you have ever put a shovel into the ground in San Diego County, you have likely encountered the region’s impermeable soils. Impermeable soils are defined by their poor infiltration areas. This means water doesn’t flow through the soil to replenish the groundwater, because the soil is too dense.
It also means water doesn’t soak evenly into the ground or flow through living soil to plants in a healthy way. No matter where you do your landscaping, you should concentrate on improving your soil structure as much as possible. That will help irrigation be more efficient and more cost-effective, and your landscape plants will receive the nutrients and water they need to flourish.
Before you can build better soil, you need to figure out what type of soil you are working with. The three basic types of soil are:
In general, sandy soils drain faster than clay soils, because there is more space between the larger particles. Soil structure also influences soil quality. Lifeless, compacted, sandy soil will not absorb water, while healthy clay soil will be more sponge-like, holding and releasing water.
The “just right” soil – an even blend of sand, silt and clay – is called loam.
Some tests can be done onsite to figure out what kind of soil you have. Others require lab analysis. Certain conditions require specialized tests, such as soil used for food production or soil receiving a lot of storm water.
You can test your home landscaping soil yourself using a “Jar Test.” This is a fun project to do with kids.
Refer to the graphic to determine your soil type, based on the proportions of sand, silt, and clay.
Which jar does your home sample look most like?
Now you can work to improve your soil condition, providing the best possible foundation for your landscaping plants and the most efficient irrigation.
This article was inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook available at SustainableLandscapesSD.org. Hardcopies are available free of charge at the Water Authority’s headquarters, 4677 Overland Ave., Kearny Mesa. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.
