You are now in Conservation Corner Features category.

Most native Southern California plants do well in hotter temperatures, so summer plant care is easy with a little planning. Photo: Annie Spratt/Pixabay

Summer Plant Care

/in , /by

Summer is heating up! While you’re heading to the beach or pool to cool off, your landscape might need a little help keeping cool too. Summer plant care is easy with a little planning.

Native plants

Most native Southern California plants do well in hotter temperatures if they are established before the summer begins. Avoid planting new plants, repotting, or fertilizing during the hot summer months. Fertilizing in the summer can trigger more green growth, which means an increase in water needs. During hot days, it is difficult to keep up with these needs as the soil tends to dry out more quickly.

Pruning is a great summer plant care strategy to help keep growth in check and provide pest control. Save most of the pruning for the cooler months to promote growth, but light pruning in the summer can benefit plant and tree maintenance.

Water deeply and less frequently

It might seem counterintuitive to water less frequently in the summer, but this is important for summer plant care. Watering too frequently on warmer days can cause too much water loss due to evaporation. Less frequent watering will also encourage your plants and trees to grow a network of deep roots. This will benefit them in the long term.

Protect soil with mulch

A good layer of high-quality mulch helps keep soil cool and prevents evaporation. Insulating the soil with mulch can also protect thinner roots that plants use to feed from surrounding soils. Over time, these roots will grow deeper along with less frequent watering.

Mulch is great for summer plant care, but it’s also a good investment any time of the year as it helps maintain a consistent soil moisture so you can water less.

Wait until fall to plant

Timing is important when planting new plants or trees. New plants require more water more frequently to develop their new root systems. Wait until the cooler fall months to begin planting to ensure higher rates of success.

With a little planning, summer plant care is a breeze!

The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including tips for sustainable landscaping best practices at SustainableLandscapesSD.org and free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.

Scrutiny Grows Over Whether Small, South County Water District Can Afford Desalination Plant

/in , , /by /The Orange County Register

The small South Coast Water District has taken key steps toward construction of a $110 million desalination plant, but the agency faces growing questions of whether it’s in over its head for the ambitious project to be built near Doheny State Beach. The project’s ocean-friendly technology has won praise from the same environmentalists fighting a desalter plant proposed by Poseidon Water for Huntington Beach, one of several things that distinguish the south county plant from the more controversial project to the north.

Full Story

Excessive Heat Ahead For California Into The Weekend

/in , /by /WeatherNation (Centennial, Colo.)

Another round of heat is heat for portions of the Southwest later this week into the weekend. Excessive Heat Watches are already in effect for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys this weekend. Heat Advisories are in effect today (Thursday) for several interior areas of Central California and southward to the Cuyama Valley and mountains of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Full Story

Water Agencies Help Avoid Tax On Drinking Water

/in , , /by /Water News Network

After years of effort, water agencies across San Diego County and the state have helped to prevent an unprecedented tax on drinking water while ensuring funding for clean water initiatives in disadvantaged communities. On July 24, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that provides $130 million annually for the next 10 years to clean up polluted drinking water, mainly in the Central and Salinas valleys. Over the past three years, several proposals in Sacramento have proposed raising that money with a tax on residential water bills. Water industry groups, including the San Diego County Water Authority and several local retail agencies, were among the broad coalition of water, business and civic interests that opposed the tax.

Full Story

Turning Sewer Into $$$

/in , , /by /The Manteca Bulletin (Manteca, Calif.)by Dennis Wyatt

What you flush and send down the drain once it is treated by the city is a valuable commodity for farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Just how much Manteca’s treated wastewater is worth to agricultural users served by the Delta Mendota Canal that are often at the mercy of fish flows diversions and drought that reduces their Central Valley Project allocations may be determined in the coming year.

Full Story

Another Hot, Muggy Day With Afternoon Thunderstorms Ahead For San Diego

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

A chance of thunderstorms will persist Thursday in most parts of San Diego County as the mercury continues to rise heading into the weekend. Thunderstorms will be possible in the inland valleys, the deserts and the mountains Thursday afternoon, according to the local office of the National Weather Service. Partly cloudy skies are expected in the coastal areas. The skies are expected to clear throughout the county by Friday morning, meteorologist Jimmy Taeger said. The chance of measurable precipitation has been set at 20 percent Thursday for the inland valleys, the mountains and the deserts, according to the weather service.

Full Story

State Releases An Update Of Water Plan

/in , , /by /The Independent (UK)by Ron McNicoll

The impacts of climate change on water use and how the state can address them represent a significant change in the new 5-year update of the California Water Plan. Update 2018, released last week by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in Sacramento, recommends actions to meet various important aspects of climate change. One of the priorities, improving integrated management of local watersheds, has been a focus of Zone 7 Water Agency in its role as manager of the Valley’s groundwater basin. As long ago as 20 years, the agency had been using the latest computerized research tools to gain a better picture of how the basin behaved, and best practices for its management.

Full Story
Bay-Delta San Joaquin County, California

Water Agencies Help Avoid Tax on Drinking Water

/in , /by

After years of effort, water agencies across San Diego County and the state have helped to prevent an unprecedented tax on drinking water while ensuring funding for clean water initiatives in disadvantaged communities.

On July 24, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that provides $130 million annually for the next 10 years to clean up polluted drinking water, mainly in the Central and Salinas valleys.

No tax on drinking water

Over the past three years, several proposals in Sacramento have proposed raising that money with a tax on residential water bills. Water industry groups, including the San Diego County Water Authority and several local retail agencies, were among the broad coalition of water, business and civic interests that opposed the tax.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins leads funding effort

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego took a lead role by working with the governor’s staff and legislators to secure annual funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund – an approach passed by the Legislature in early July.

The funding is intended to assist communities in paying for the costs of obtaining access to safe and affordable drinking water, including treated contaminated water.

Critical funding for safe, reliable drinking water

“The fact that more than a million Californians can’t rely on clean water to drink or bathe in is a moral disgrace,” said Governor Newsom after signing the bill. “This funding is critically important to addressing California’s long-standing safe drinking water issues, and I would like to thank the Legislature for working collaboratively to pass this solution.”

Smaller water districts will also be able to tap the funds to help with their operating costs, and possibly merge with other small districts.

The California State Water Resources Control Board has identified 329 water systems statewide that serve contaminated drinking water or cannot provide reliable water service due to unsound infrastructure or lack of resources. Most of the systems are in rural areas and serve fewer than 10,000 people.

DOE Announces $16M In Funding For 14 Tribal Energy Projects

/in , , /by /Utility Dive (Washington, D.C.)by Max Witynski

On Tuesday, the DOE announced more than $16 million in funding for 14 tribal energy infrastructure projects through its Office of Indian Energy. The projects add over 13 MW of capacity for 900 buildings, and will save approximately $7.5 million annually, according to Office of Indian Energy Director Kevin R. Frost. Nine of the projects will involve new solar installations, while others involve energy efficiency, battery storage and microgrids, among other technologies.

Full Story