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Sometimes a portion of lawn is maintained even with sustainable landscaping plans, and using the right type of grass, along with proper care, can reduce water needs. Image: Inspector/Pixabay

Tips for Responsible Lawn Maintenance

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While the goal of many sustainable landscaping plans is to remove the traditional suburban lawn, sometimes a portion of lawn area is maintained.

You can ensure that your lawn stays healthy, permeable and green by using sustainable landscaping tips for lawn maintenance:

  • Grass cycling
  • Using proper mowing height and frequency
  • Eliminating chemical use
  • Monitoring watering frequency and duration
  • Using organic amendments, particularly compost

Turf should be top dressed with one-eighth to one-quarter of compost once or twice yearly. This minimizes the need for resource inputs, the ability of lawn areas to act as infiltration and filter areas, and reduces polluted runoff.

Ideal placement and grass type

Turf should ideally be used where it serves a specific purpose, like a play area. It should be avoided in inaccessible or decorative areas like parkways, median strips, islands, or front yards. Turf should be avoided on all slopes.

Sustainable landscaping for responsible lawn maintenance

Warm season grass is the best choice for most areas in San Diego County. Warm season grass prefers temperatures of 80 degrees or more, and will go dormant in the winter when it is rainy and cool. Typically these grasses grow from sturdy rhizomes that extend deep underground.

Warm season grass also uses less water than cool season grass and is a moderate water use plant. Consider overseeing your grass with clover to make it more interesting and drought-tolerant.


This article was inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook available at SustainableLandscapesSD.org. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.

Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019

Sweetwater Authority Board approves $77M budget for fiscal year 2019-20

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Chula Vista, Calif. – The Sweetwater Authority (Authority) Governing Board approved the budget for fiscal year 2019-20 at its June 2, 2019 meeting. The Board worked closely with Authority staff to produce a balanced budget that minimizes the financial impact to customers. Most notably, the budget reflects a considerable decrease in the purchase of expensive imported water as a result of above average rainfaall and a successful stored water transfer from Loveland Reservoir to Sweetwater Reservoir in February 2019.

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Snowmelt Fills Rivers In US Southwest, Easing Drought Fears

/in , , /by /The Associated Press by Dan Elliott

A welcome surge of melting snow is pouring out of the Rocky Mountains and into the drought-stricken rivers of the southwestern U.S., fending off a water shortage but threatening to push rivers over their banks. Last winter brought above-average snowfall to much of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, so an abundance of snowmelt is rushing into the Colorado River, the Rio Grande and other waterways after a desperately dry 2018.

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California Budget To Provide $9.25 Million For Research Into Atmospheric Rivers

/in , , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)

California’s 2019-20 budget will provide $9.25 million to study atmospheric rivers in an effort to improve flood control. Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, who also represents Yolo County announced the news on Wednesday. He indicated the research should lead to better understanding and forecasts of the weather patterns with the intention of not just better flood control but water retention “in a state grappling with the effects of climate change and chronic drought.”

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OPINION: Budget Expediency Overwhelms Logic

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Dan Walters

Many factors go into making political deals – ideology, self-interest, expediency and emotion to mention just a few. Logic rarely enters the equation, and if it does, it usually dwells at the bottom in importance. Two cases in point are to be found in the final deal on a $213 billion state budget that was hammered out last weekend, just a few days before the June 15 deadline, by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders.

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Search Begins For The Next General Manager Of The San Diego County Water Authority

/in , , /by /The Daily Transcript

The San Diego County Water Authority hired the executive search firm William Avery & Associates to manage the recruitment of its next general manager, following the retirement of long-time head Maureen Stapleton. After a competitive selection process, a work group comprised of the Water Authority’s board of directors chose the Los Gatos-based firm to fill the position that was vacated last March.

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A new landmark agreement led by the San Diego County Water Authority will provide regional water solutions which include storing water in Lake Mead. Photo: National Park Service

San Diego County Quality of Life Indicators Mostly Positive in 2018

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A report released today showed improvement in 2018 for the majority of 15 indicators used to measure San Diego County’s quality of life. The Equinox Project Quality of Life Dashboard measures and benchmarks several environmental and economic trends throughout the region.

The analysis highlighted the San Diego County Water Authority for developing water solutions for San Diego and the Southwest using a “portfolio approach.” One of the initiatives under that approach includes efforts to store water in Lake Mead on the Colorado River, which would benefit both San Diego County residents and many other river users.

San Diego County's water supply has diversified significantly over the last couple of decades.. Source: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County’s water supply has diversified significantly over the last couple of decades. Source: San Diego County Water Authority

The nonpartisan Equinox Project report is a source of public policy research and analysis to guide policymakers, planners and other officials, said Emily Young, executive director of The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego, where the project is based.

Water use increased in 2018

“There’s no one indicator when you’re talking our quality of life in the San Diego region,” Young said. “And in fact, the whole point is all of these things are connected. If you’re talking about air quality, you really can’t talk about that if you’re not also talking about our transportation systems and the pollution generated from them.

“Whether we’re looking at an issue like water, which is very precious to the San Diego region, or other issues around transportation or housing, all of these are things that we’re measuring our progress on,” said Young.

Per capita water use in San Diego County

*This data includes agricultural water use served by local water agencies.
In 2018, National City had the lowest municipal and industrial (M&I) water use at 78 gallons per capita daily. Yuima’s high per capita M&I potable water use occurs because a large amount of water used for horticultural irrigation is classified as M&I, and the district services a small population (less than 2,000 people). Data Source: San Diego County Water Authority

Measuring quality of life

Six of the 15 indicators received a “thumbs-up” in the report, including air quality, electricity use and renewable energy. Four indicators, including water use, received a “thumbs-down.”

“Daily residential water consumption in San Diego County increased by 8.3% from 84 gallons per capita in 2017 to 91 gallons in 2018,” according to the report. “Water use has increased since the statewide water restrictions were lifted in 2017, though below pre-drought levels.”

*Sweetwater Authority is comprised of the South Bay Irrigation District and National City. The dataset excludes the City of Del Mar, the City of Oceanside, Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base and the Yuima Municipal Water District.
In Q4 of 2018, residents in the Sweetwater Authority area (National City and South Bay) had the lowest residential water use in San Diego County. Santa Fe Irrigation District used 363 gallons per capita/day, the most water per capita in San Diego County. Data Source: State Water Resources Control Board, Urban Water Supplier Report, 2019

Water use lower in 2019

Despite the slight increase in water use during 2018, residents continue to conserve compared to previous years.

“While extreme dry conditions contributed to increased residential water use in 2018, per capita water use was still lower than historical, pre-drought levels,” said Alexi Schnell, water resources specialist with the Water Authority. “Water use to date in 2019, a much wetter year, has been consistently lower than in 2018.

“There will always be fluctuations based on weather and other factors, but the San Diego region continues to embrace water-use efficiency, and per capita water use in the region is not forecasted to return to pre-drought levels for the foreseeable future,” Schnell added.

The report noted that “the San Diego region is making significant commitments to water efficiency and recycling” and has diversified local supply with the Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination Plant in Carlsbad, the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant.

Water Board Places 10 County Agencies On Notice To Clean Up San Diego River

/in , /by /Fox 5 San Diegoby Salvador Rivera

The San Diego Water Board is asking 10 local agencies, including the city and county of San Diego, to curtail the flow of human fecal matter into the San Diego River. The problem has gotten worse over the last few years to the point it’s being compared with similar issues along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the state agency that monitors the region’s water quality, “While we’ve all known about the border issue — the Tijuana water shed — it was surprising to find out there was actually a lot of human waste present in the San Diego River water shed,” said David Gibson, San Diego Water Board Executive Officer.

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Dams Could Protect Ranchers From Climate Change’s Drought…But Could They Also Contribute To It?

/in , , /by /KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)by Melodie Edwards

It’s late May in Wyoming. It snowed last night, and more snow is predicted. That’s why it’s good that Big Piney Rancher Chad Espenscheid is behind the wheel of the truck. The roads are sloppy and Middle Piney Creek is running high. “Speaking of water,” he says, laughing. “Yeah, seems like it’s starting to flood,” I observe. “Yeah, it’s just wet.” That wetness is nerve-wracking for ranchers like Espenscheid. “It’s been a cold, long winter,” he says. “The cows and calves are really needing some sunshine about now. We got quite a bit of sickness going on around the valley.”

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NASA Explores Our Changing Freshwater World

/in , , /by /PHYS.org (Los Angeles)by Ellen Gray

Water is so commonplace that we often take it for granted. But too much—or too little of it—makes headlines. Catastrophic flooding in the U.S. Midwest this spring has caused billions of dollars in damage and wreaked havoc with crops, after rain tipped off a mass melting of snow. Seven years of California drought so debilitating that it led to water rationing came to a close after a wet and snowy winter capped off several years of slow rebound and replenished the vital mountain snowpack.

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