The California budget doesn’t include it, but Gov. Jerry Brown is not done pushing for a new charge on water users, which would fund clean drinking water in rural areas of the state that currently have unsafe tap water. About a dollar a month for most users would help pay for clean tap water for 200,000 Californians in such communities. Passage of the charge would require approval by two-thirds of state lawmakers.
Vista, Calif. – The Vista Irrigation District board of directors recognized one of its customers for their entry in the district’s WaterSmart Landscape Contest.
The contest recognizes outstanding water-wise residential landscapes based on the criteria of overall attractiveness, appropriate plant selection, design, appropriate maintenance, and efficient methods of irrigation.
Bill and Rachel Williams received the “Best in District” award. During the height of the drought, the
Williamses decided to replaced their water-intensive front and back lawn with a water-efficient landscape. After
hiring professionals to remove over 2,500 square feet of grass and install drip irrigation, the Williamses designed
the layout and chose the water-wise plants themselves. By adding fun elements, such a horseshoe pit and outdoor
seating area surrounding a fire pit, the Williamses transformed unused space into a backyard with utility.
The Williams’ backyard prior to their WaterSmart landscaping project. Photo: Vista Irrigation District
The result was an eye-catching design incorporating decomposed granite, cactus and splashes of vibrant color from the aloe
and agave families, including Coral Aloe as well as Foxtail and Century Agaves; plant selection also included
Aeonium, Rosemary, Senecio and Firestick.
The Williamses “couldn’t be happier with the results”, and their WaterSmart project turned their water
thirsty lawn into a low maintenance, low cost and water efficient haven where they can relax and enjoy a game of
horseshoes.
Another view of the new WaterSmart landscaping installed by the Williams family of Vista. Photo: Vista Irrigation District
With a majority of residential water use in San Diego County attributed to watering landscapes, regional
water efficiency efforts focus on outdoor water use. By showcasing their beautiful landscape in the WaterSmart
Landscape Contest, these district customers provide other homeowners with ideas and incentives to reduce their
own outdoor water use by installing attractive and efficient water-wise landscaping.
“Replacing your lawn with a WaterSmart landscape is a beautiful way to save water and money at the same
time,” said Brent Reyes, water conservation specialist for the district.
The district joined eleven other local agencies that held landscape contests this year, providing an
opportunity to showcase residential water-wise landscapes throughout the region. Participating agencies (besides
Vista Irrigation District) include Helix Water District, Olivenhain Municipal Water District, Otay Water District,
Padre Dam Municipal Water District, San Dieguito Water District, Sweetwater Authority, Vallecitos Water District,
California American Water, and the cities of Escondido, Oceanside and San Diego.
For more information about the contest and to see more examples of WaterSmart landscaping, visit
www.landscapecontest.com. Visit the district’s web site (www.vidwater.org) or call (760) 597-3107 to find out
more ways to save water.
The Vista Irrigation District is a public agency governed by an elected five-member board. The district
provides water service to more than 133,000 people in the city of Vista, and portions of San Marcos, Escondido,
Oceanside, and unincorporated areas of San Diego County.
After a period of cooler weather, the San Diego region is poised to warm up later this week with 90-degree temperatures expected in much of East County. The National Weather Service office in San Diego issued an excessive heat warning for the San Diego County deserts, with temperatures forecast to range from the high 100s to low 110s.
That oceanfront property in Stinson Beach you’ve dreamed about may not be so perfect after all. A report published Monday finds that nearly 4,400 homes in Marin County might not make it beyond a 30-year mortgage because of encroaching seawater. According to the publication by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Marin County leads the state in the number of parcels that could literally be underwater by 2045 because of climate-driven sea level rise. Across California, more than 20,000 homes are at risk.
At a town hall Monday, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán alleged that people were paid to pose as residents to speak out in support of an embattled water district, marking a strange twist in the ongoing controversy over discolored water pouring out of taps in Compton and Willowbrook. The Sativa Los Angeles County Water District serves about 1,600 ratepayers in a half-mile area of Compton and Willowbrook. Residents have been complaining about brown-colored water with a foul odor.
Southland fire officials issued dire warnings Thursday about the upcoming fire season, saying they are preparing for daily outbreaks of vegetation blazes and calling on residents to act now to clear brush around homes and other structures. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby and fire officials from the Inland Empire to Orange County also reminded residents that they need to do their part to prevent fires from erupting.
Next week, A new instrument designed to measure plant stress will be plugged into the International Space Station. Once operating, the device will deliver unprecedented data about drought conditions and water conservation all over the planet. The device was designed and built by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It’s scheduled for launch on June 29 aboard a SpaceX rocket as part of a resupply mission for the space station.
It’s like a new city springing to life: 11,000 homes and apartments, seven public schools, a pair of fire stations, a police station, a slew of office and commercial buildings and 1,000 acres of parks, trails and other open space. Expected population: 25,000. But will it have enough water? As construction begins this month on the first model homes at Folsom Ranch, a 3,300-acre development in the city of Folsom south of Highway 50, state regulators continue to have questions about the project’s water supply.
Earlier in May, Brenda Burman, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation within the Department of the Interior, urged water managers in the Colorado River Basin to adopt Drought Contingency Plans (DCPs) in light of the very dry year we have experienced in 2018, and some new projections, which paint a discouraging future for the Colorado River Basin.
Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is expected on Friday to send President Trump a detailed legal proposal to dramatically scale back an Obama-era regulation on water pollution, according to a senior E.P.A. official familiar with the plan. It is widely expected to be one of his agency’s most significant regulatory rollback efforts.
