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Provide Room to Grow in Your Sustainable Landscape Plan

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Note the height and width of plant species when they mature when choosing plants for new sustainable landscapes. Proper plant placement, taking into account the mature plant’s size, will limit the need for regular pruning, and reduce the amount of maintenance required over time.

While regular pruning and removal of dead plant materials is vital in our region for wildfire prevention, overly aggressive pruning harms plant health and doesn’t allow natural shapes to emerge.

Use the following spacing chart to help you figure out how many plants you need per square foot, based on the mature size of the plants.

Space plants on your landscaping plan at their full mature size, not the size when you first plant them. Graphic: Water Authority

Space plants on your landscaping plan at their full mature size, not the size when you first plant them. Graphic: San Diego County Water Authority

Scale your plants at maturity

On your landscaping plan, use circles to note the size of every plant at maturity using a one-inch to four-foot scale. Use colored pencils to denote different water needs of the plants selected. It will make it easier to group plants into their proper irrigation zones (hydrozones).

Wide canopy trees that grow to 20 or 30 feet in diameter will significantly change the landscaping over time. Will this change the microclimates in the future? Consider whether a tree will cover a large section of landscaping with shade that is currently getting full sun. If plants that thrive in full sun are eventually covered in shade, the landscaping may need to be updated in time.

Small but mighty

Planning for the amount of space your new plants will need when fully grown will help your landscape thrive. Photo: Sweetwater Authority

Planning for the amount of space your new plants will need when fully grown will help your landscape thrive. Photo: Sweetwater Authority

Select the smallest, healthiest plants possible, especially when choosing native plants. Once they are planted in properly prepared soil and watered wisely, small plants establish themselves more vigorously than plants raised in larger containers. Do not plant more than the space allows when the plants mature.

Root depth matters

Take note of the root depth of plants when they are placed into the landscaping. Note the root depth on the plan. Trees will be irrigated less frequently, but for a longer period of time. Groundcovers with shallower roots require more frequent, shorter periods of irrigation. Keep these types of plants on separate hydrozones. Learn more about hydrozones

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.

Vallecitos Employee Encourages Veterans to Work in Water Industry

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Vallecitos Water District Senior Pump and Motor Technician Dale Austin is a strong advocate and one-person recruiting program, encouraging military veterans to consider water and wastewater industry careers. As an eighth-generation military veteran with 20 years of service, he successfully transitioned to his current profession and wants to help others do the same.

“Every job in the military can be transferred into a water agency,” said Austin. “I’m a proud veteran. I will support veterans 110% any way I can, any time of the day.

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A Massive Water Recycling Proposal Could Help Ease Drought

/in , , /by /WIREDby Matt Simon

LAKE MEAD, WHICH provides water for 25 million people in the American West, has shrunk to 36 percent of its capacity. One rural California community has run out of water entirely after its well broke in early June. Fields are sitting fallow, as farmers sell their water allotments instead of growing crops, putting the nation’s food supply in peril.

As the West withers under extreme drought, legislators in the US House of Representatives have introduced HR 4099, a bill that would direct the Secretary of the Interior to create a program to fund $750 million worth of water recycling projects in the 17 western states through the year 2027.

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Drought-Stricken Western Districts Plan New Ways to Store Water

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Greenby Leslie Kaufman

Driving through the Sacramento valley an hour north of California’s capital, most travelers notice nothing but a few cows grazing on grass scorched brown by the heat. But Jerry Brown, the executive director of the Sites Reservoir Project, sees the future of California’s water system.

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From the Air, Drone Footage of Salton Sea Shows California Drought Impact

/in , , /by /Reuters

Drone footage taken at the Salton Sea, California’s largest inland lake, shows the dramatic effects of the state’s worst drought since 1977.

Its receding shoreline has caused an ecological crisis as exposed silt is carried into surrounding areas.

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Western Governors Make Bipartisan Plea as States Battle Record Heat and Drought

/in , , /by /CNN Politicsby Chandelis Duster

A pair of governors on Sunday called on the federal government for help and pushed for solutions as their states grapple with recording-breaking temperatures, drought and wildfires that officials have said is being driven by climate change.

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Authors Say Plan For the Worst on Colorado River

/in , , /by /KUNMby Megan Kamerick

The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people around the West, including New Mexico, but the historic drought gripping our region has prompted a 20% drop in flows in the river. Reservoirs are drying, with Lake Mead at its lowest levels since it was filled in the 1930s. As scientists incorporate these changes into future projections, an article in Science magazine urges them to plan for even greater declines in the river.

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Hydro Energy Reduced as California Reservoirs Shrink

/in , , /by /SJV Waterby Jesse Vad

California’s reservoirs and rivers are startlingly low, forcing many of the state’s more than 270 hydropower facilities to generate less power.

Lake Oroville, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, made headlines because its water levels have dropped so low the power plant may need to shut down for the first time. While most other hydropower plants aren’t at risk of shutting down, plants that rely on watersheds up and down the state are not able to generate normal amounts of power.

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Major Renovations Begin on Anderson Dam Tunnel Project; Reservoir Can’t be Used for 10 Years

/in , /by /KTVUby Elissa Harrington

Major renovations will begin Wednesday on the Anderson Dam tunnel project in Santa Clara County. The project will require the reservoir to be drained – and it will be unable to be used for 10 years.

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UCLA Study: Climate Change Causing ‘Extreme’ Rain and Snowfall Across Globe

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby City News Service

A UCLA study shows that abnormally heavy rain and snowfall events since as early as the 1980s are intensifying globally due to human-driven climate change, researchers said Tuesday.

“These findings further elevate the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to prevent even larger impacts down the road,” said senior author Alex Hall, director of the UCLA Center for Climate Science, which is a part of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “We can now say that extreme precipitation is increasing globally due to human-induced climate change.”