San Marcos, Calif. – A beautiful native garden low on water use but not on style won first place in the Vallecitos Water District’s 2018 “WaterSmart Landscape Contest. To encourage customers to reduce outdoor water use, Vallecitos recognizes customers whose yards best exhibit the beauty of California-friendly, low-water gardening. The Vallecitos Board of Directors honored the 2018 winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest at its August board meeting.
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San Marcos, Calif. – A beautiful native garden low on water use but not on style won first place in the Vallecitos Water District’s 2018 “WaterSmart Landscape Contest.
To encourage customers to reduce outdoor water use, Vallecitos recognizes customers whose yards best exhibit the beauty of California-friendly, low-water gardening. The Vallecitos Board of Directors honored the 2018 winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest at its August board meeting.
Jeff Moore stands in his front yard featuring his award-winning WaterSmart landscaping work. Photo: Water Authority
The winners are:
First place – Rhonda Holmes and Jeff Jenco
Second place – Dennis and Shannon Root
Third place – Patti Joyce and Jeffrey Moore
View a video tour and interviews with the winners here.
First place winner Rhonda Holmes said the landscape transformation at her Lake San Marcos-area home took place after purchasing the house and undertaking a complete remodel, which included replacing the front and back yard turf areas with water-efficient plants.
Holmes describes seeing neighborhood lawns with running sprinkler heads misting the streets. She wanted to design a garden that was smart on water, while being beautiful at the same time. As for the earth-friendly garden remodel, Holmes says, “It’s really easy to do. I’d love to see more people try to do their part.”
Bioswale feature prevents stormwater pollution
Jeff Moore rakes the zen garden in his back yard featuring his landscape work. Photo: Water Authority
Holmes also installed a beautiful and environmentally conscious bioswale to reduce pollution to nearby Lake San Marcos. It prevents water from being emptied into the storm drain system.
“I think what people don’t realize is all the pesticides and fertilizers and chemicals we use on our plants, if we don’t do something like a biofiltration system with those chemicals, then end up leaching out into the streets, into the gutters and into the golf course here, and for example in Lake San Marcos,” said Holmes.
Holmes says in addition to water conservation, she is able to avoid pest control with chemicals, because native plants are more disease resistant.
All three winners experienced an unexpected benefit: an influx of wildlife into their yards including birds, bees and butterflies, and small reptiles. There is even a neighborhood peacock that visits the Root household.
Free fall series of landscape makeover classes now open for registration
Decorative elements highlight Jeff Moore’s landscaping. Photo: Water Authority
Shannon Root says she attended a landscaping seminar held at the Vallecitos Water District. Third place winner Jeffrey Moore attended the San Diego County Water Authority’s Landscaping Makeover series of classes. Both called them informative and extremely helpful. The next series of Landscaping Makeover classes are scheduled in October. Interested residents can register on the program’s website.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/JeffMoore.9.12.2018x003-845X450.jpg450845Gayle Falkenthalhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngGayle Falkenthal2018-09-19 00:18:002018-09-19 19:54:14Waterwise Landscaping Blooms in San Marcos
After a truly searing start to summer across most of California, especially in the south, the last several weeks have felt rather mild by comparison. The record-breaking heatwaves of July, followed by record warm ocean temperatures later in the summer in SoCal, made for very uncomfortable conditions across some of California’s most densely populated regions for much of the summer. Meanwhile, in interior NorCal, record daytime highs were few and far between–but relentless overnight warmth and persistently above-average daytime temperatures again combined to produce record or near-record summer temperatures. Indeed: across many parts of southern and interior California, 2018 was the warmest summer on record.
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California’s system of dams and canals is made of equal parts concrete and injustice. Injustice is baked into the system, which unfairly burdens Stockton and the Delta. A “vast and powerful” constituency of Delta water exporters — the south-valley water districts of Big Ag, southland urban consumers — likes it that way. Their latest baby, the California WaterFix, is more of the same. On Monday Restore the Delta unveiled a new way of fighting the WaterFix, with its twin tunnels: showing its impacts will fall most heavily on the so-called “environmental justice community” of Stockton and the Delta region.
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The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) filed a complaint on September 4, 2018 against the United States Section of the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC), alleging violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) related to contamination in the Tijuana River. Relying on a 1944 U.S./Mexico treaty, the complaint alleges that the IBWC is responsible for addressing waste entering the U.S. from Mexico along the Tijuana River watershed.
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https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngMike Lee2018-09-18 08:30:572018-10-24 22:41:43To Manage Future Water Shortages, California Must Update Its Water Grid
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After a warm September for millions of Americans, October is expected to feel much more fall-like across the north-central and northeastern United States, but the chilly weather may be replaced by milder temperatures for the start of winter. Near- or below-average temperatures are expected in October from the northern Plains into the Midwest and Northeast, according to the latest outlook from The Weather Company, an IBM Business. The greatest chance for colder-than-average temperatures will be in the upper Midwest, western Great Lakes and parts of northern New York and northern Vermont.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Andrea Morahttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngAndrea Mora2018-09-18 06:36:562018-09-19 09:46:30Fall, Early Winter 2018 Temperature Outlook: Chilly In October, Then Turning Milder In November And December
MONSOON STORMS IN the desert Southwest are vital for recharging groundwater – but it now appears likely this recharge effect may be compromised by climate change. The major cities of the Southwest – Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, Las Vegas – currently get most of their freshwater from the Colorado River or its tributaries. That river, however, is experiencing its 19th straight drought year, suggesting a new permanent dry state is gripping the giant watershed
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngMike Lee2018-09-18 05:37:522018-09-20 09:44:57Monsoon Storms, Key To Recharging Groundwater, May Become Less Common
