Efficient water use is an important responsibility that comes along with the benefits of living in San Diego County’s beautiful Mediterranean climate.
No matter whether your landscaping is just a few square feet alongside a small front porch, or covers many acres on a luxury estate, San Diego County residents have learned to embrace sustainability as a central principle for creating or renovating their landscapes. Irrigation is among the highest uses of water for most homeowners.
West of Lake Powell, along the Utah-Arizona border, lies a sparsely populated territory of high desert, deeply scored canyons and barren mesas. Here, Utah officials want to build a 140-mile-long pipeline to bring precious Colorado River water west to the thriving town of St. George, in the state’s far southwestern corner.
Removing salt from seawater to make it safe to drink means overcoming a number of scientific challenges, including optimizing the membrane used for the desalination process – and new research into these membranes promises to make the whole operation cheaper and more accessible in the future.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Kimberlyn Velasquezhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngKimberlyn Velasquez2021-01-07 10:59:082021-01-07 11:14:47New Discovery Could Lead to Cheaper and More Efficient Water Desalination
The Santa Clara Valley Water District has been lowering the water level on the Anderson Dam since Oct. 1 to keep the region safe from potentially catastrophic flooding in the event of a major earthquake.
The Anderson Reservoir can hold up to 90,000 acre-feet of water and is now at three percent capacity, which is the lowest feasible level given the position of the existing outlet tunnel. At its current level, even a heavy rainy season would not pose dam failure and flooding risk; keeping some water in the reservoir helps preserve some wildlife habitat. Beyond immediate safety, one of the main reasons for lowering the water level is to allow for construction to begin on a major seismic retrofit project for the dam. The reservoir has been closed for recreational use since October and is expected to remain shuttered for the duration of the project.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Kimberlyn Velasquezhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngKimberlyn Velasquez2021-01-07 10:58:282021-01-07 11:11:56Work On Valley Water’s Largest Reservoir Moves Forward
In a major and potentially fatal setback for plans to build the largest dam in the Bay Area in more than 20 years, the price tag to construct a new reservoir in southern Santa Clara County near Pacheco Pass has nearly doubled, from $1.3 billion to $2.5 billion.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Kimberlyn Velasquezhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngKimberlyn Velasquez2021-01-07 10:28:462021-01-07 10:28:46Price Tag Nearly Doubles to $2.5 Billion for Huge New Dam Project in Santa Clara County
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Kimberlyn Velasquezhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngKimberlyn Velasquez2021-01-07 10:25:182021-01-07 10:25:18Inside Clean Energy: The Energy Storage Boom Has Arrived
Water tanks are a common sight across the hillsides and neighborhoods in our region. Helix manages, maintains and operates 25 tanks across the 50 square miles of our district to provide our 277,000 customers with water to their faucets on demand. Water tanks vary in size, shape, location and function, and they are the focus of our next virtual event.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Kimberlyn Velasquezhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngKimberlyn Velasquez2021-01-07 10:23:382021-01-07 10:23:38Helix Water District: Join Us For Water Chats On Facebook Live On January 28
Efficient water use is an important responsibility that comes along with the benefits of living in San Diego County’s beautiful Mediterranean climate.
No matter whether your landscaping is just a few square feet alongside a small front porch, or covers many acres on a luxury estate, San Diego County residents have learned to embrace sustainability as a central principle for creating or renovating their landscapes. Irrigation is among the highest uses of water for most homeowners.
Treating every garden, no matter its size, as its own mini-watershed allows it to capture and retain water to nurture a diverse habitat of plants and helpful insects.
Watersmart living not only saves money, but it creates vibrant yards, reduces energy use, protects our natural resources, and reduces landscape maintenance. It may even improve property values. It also creates a shared sense of purpose about how we use our limited water supplies.
What elements do you need to consider when taking a watershed approach to your landscape?
Learn Four Key Principles of Sustainable Landscaping
The four principles of sustainable landscaping are on display at the San Diego County Water Authority’s Sustainable Landscaping Demonstration Garden at its Kearny Mesa office in San Diego. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
The formula for successful sustainable landscaping includes four key principles:
Healthy, Living Soils: Healthy, living soils rich in organic content feed a complex soil food web. The soil holds water like a sponge, and has nutrients for optimal plant health.
Climate Appropriate Plants: Many choices of beautiful groundcovers, shrubs, and trees are compatible with San Diego’s mild Mediterranean climate. These plants use less water and display diverse colors, textures, and shaped with endless design options.
Rainwater as a Resource: Sustainable landscapes make the most of natural rainfall. Slowing the flow of water off rooftops and hard surfaces allow it to be captured and sink into the soil or be stored for later use.
High-Efficiency Irrigation: Your irrigation can maximize water-use efficiency through smart controllers to adjust water automatically to changing weather conditions, and high-performance distribution components to regulate pressure and tailor water delivery to the exact needs of your landscape plants.
The four principles of successful sustainable landscaping are on display at the San Diego County Water Authority’s Sustainable Landscaping Demonstration Garden at its Kearny Mesa office in San Diego.
The 3,000-square-foot garden can be viewed by the public. It includes informational signage introducing visitors to key sustainable landscaping principles. Specific plant types that grow successfully in the region’s climate are also identified. Many are Southern California natives.
This article is part of a year-long series inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.
California isn’t meeting its recycled water goals, and billions of gallons of treated wastewater are being discharged into the ocean or other water bodies each year, according to state regulators, who say drought conditions could cause future supply challenges.
As COVID started to spread, farmers and large cities in Southern California were hit with another blindside last March. Fires, drought, and the planting season drove up the price of California’s water market, over 220 percent in just three months. Crops failed and pastures were lost.
