Sea lions and dolphins have been washing up sick or dead on Southern California beaches, poisoned by eating fish containing a dangerous neurotoxin. It’s the result of a harmful algae bloom, a natural phenomenon that turns water blue, bright green, brown or red, and occurs mostly in the summer and fall.
Colorado tribes are worried that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month against the Navajo Nation in a Colorado River water rights case may narrow the federal government’s broad, historic responsibility to provide them with aid. In Navajo Nation vs. Arizona Dept. of the Interior, the tribe was seeking to sue the federal government to require it to assess the tribe’s water rights along the Colorado River and help to create a plan to develop them for the 170,000 tribal members who live there.
Lois Scott transformed her El Cajon home’s green front lawn with rose bushes into a colorful water-wise landscape with a little help from her friends. Now called “Nana’s Garden,” it is this year’s Otay Water District Landscape Makeover Contest winner.
Nana’s Garden is in Otay Water District’s division 5, which is represented by Board President Mark Robak.
Before and after photos of Lois Scott’s winning landscape makeover. Photo: Otay Water District
Scott, who worked as a registered nurse for 42 years before retiring, decided to change her landscaping after years of facing high water usage, lack of rain, and rabbits invading her yard. In 2020, she applied for a rebate through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Landscape Transformation Program. She received a rebate amount of $4,161 for 1,387 square feet of turf removed.
Lois Scott exchanged grass for colorful nature and low water use plants. Photo: Otay Water District
Scott participated in the San Diego County Water Authority’s WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program in 2021. The free classes helped her come up with a plan to upgrade her yard.
“I fell in love with all the different plants I was learning about in the class,” said Scott. “With all the colors and textures, I couldn’t just limit my garden to a few plants. I call my garden Nana’s Garden, full of lots of variation, just like my grandchildren.”
The winning landscape features boulders and rocks Lois Scott dug up or found in online ads. Photo: Otay Water District
With the help of kids from the neighborhood, Scott dug up dirt and rocks to create a pathway with decomposed granite and stepping stones. Three large boulders she found on Craigslist became the new focal point of her succulent garden.
“This 64-year-old grandma sure did bring many wheelbarrows of rocks in,” said Scott.
Existing irrigation was converted to a low water use drip system. Photo: Otay Water District
Scott’s best friend is a succulent fan who helped her plant natives and succulents. She engaged a professional gardener to convert her irrigation system from sprinklers to drip. She capped 17 of 19 existing spray sprinkler heads causing water runoff across sidewalks, leaving two for a drip retrofit. She uses a drip line to primarily feed the trees and succulents, while a separate line and a rain barrel water the rest of the plants.
Scott’s new landscape has allowed an overall water use reduction of an average of approximately 41% compared to the years before upgrading.
Bright blooms attract pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Photo: Otay Water District
Scott says she enjoys seeing her garden grow. Some plants are soft, fussy, slick, and smooth, while others are prickly. She is amazed by the richness of the purple in the lavender and the bright fluorescent of the honeysuckle.
“The fun part now is to sit back and enjoy the gentle breeze while watching the honeybees, butterflies, and hummingbirds have their feast in my garden,” said Scott. “I am loving the lower water bill and knowing that I am helping the environment by saving water.”
El Cajon resident Lois Scott’s completed landscape makeover. Photo: Otay Water District
“The winner’s landscape will demonstrate to other residents the great benefits of installing waterwise yards and hopefully encourage them to change how they use water outdoors,” said Robak. “The District makes it a priority to provide resources for residential and commercial customers who are considering ways to make water-use efficiency a way of life.”
Otay will honor Scott at its July board meeting with a certificate of recognition, a gift certificate to a local nursery of her choice, a yard sign, and other promotional items.
WaterSmart Landscape Content details here and for information on water conservation rebates and programs for residents, businesses and agriculture in San Diego County, go to: www.sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation/.
(Editor’s note: The Otay Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.)
The target of keeping long-term global warming within 2.7 Fahrenheit is moving out of reach, climate experts say, with nations failing to set more ambitious goals despite months of record-breaking heat on land and sea.
As envoys gathered in Bonn in early June to prepare for this year’s annual climate talks in November, average global surface air temperatures were more than 2.7F above pre-industrial levels for several days, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
Though mean temperatures had temporarily breached the 2.7F threshold before, this was the first time they had done so in the northern hemisphere summer that starts on June 1. Sea temperatures also broke April and May records.
“We’ve run out of time because change takes time,” said Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climatologist at Australia’s University of New South Wales.
Updated figures released today show that disadvantaged communities, working families, farmers, and others across San Diego County will be forced to pay nearly $200 million more over the next decade for water service unless agencies seeking to leave the Water Authority are required to fully cover their costs.
On July 10, the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission’s board is expected to vote on a plan for the Fallbrook and Rainbow water agencies to leave the San Diego County Water Authority, possibly with the inclusion of an “exit fee.” However, LAFCO’s figures are based on years-old data and flawed projections that understate the annual costs of detachment by at least 50%. Like everything else, costs related to water supplies have inflated significantly over the past three years.
LAFCO’s data don’t reflect the inflationary realities or the fact that the financial impacts of detachment will continue far beyond LAFCO’s five-year horizon, which does not reflect the actual lifespan of water infrastructure or the debt used to finance it. The LAFCO staff report acknowledges impacts will continue far longer than five years, suggesting that the rest of the county should pay for benefits to Rainbow and Fallbrook.
“From the start of this process, one of our top priorities was making sure that residents across the region aren’t harmed financially. It’s critical that ratepayers who are struggling to make ends meet, independent farmers, and small businesses aren’t forced to subsidize Fallbrook and Rainbow for years to come,” said Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz. “We encourage the LAFCO Commissioners to require Fallbrook and Rainbow to fully cover their costs.”
LAFCO’s staff recommendation to approve the detachment proposals by the Fallbrook and Rainbow water agencies does not include substantive analysis of impacts to disadvantaged communities, or to agriculture in the Water Authority service area. Nor does it include environmental analysis required by law.
The LAFCO staff recommendation includes an exit fee of about $4.8 million a year for five years, which isn’t close to covering the actual costs that will be shifted to residents elsewhere in the county.
Here’s how much retail water agencies in the region may have to pay each year to cover the projected $18.9 million bill from Fallbrook and Rainbow leaving:
Water agencies in San Diego County are sharing outdoor water-efficiency tips during “Smart Irrigation Month.”
July was chosen as Smart Irrigation Month in 2005 since its traditionally the month of peak demand for outdoor water use in the county. Landscape irrigation consumes 50% of the typical California home’s monthly water use.
A charming 1925 La Mesa home featuring a rich tapestry of thriving low-water use plants won the 2023 Helix Water District Landscape Makeover Contest. Homeowner Joy Andrea, a retired schoolteacher and La Mesa resident for more than 50 years, created a landscape with a tremendous amount of curb appeal, reflecting the character of the home.
A retired grandmother in East County built an award-winning water-wise landscape with some help from the kids in her neighborhood.
Lois Scott, who once worked as a registered nurse, decided to address years of high-water usage, a lack of rain and “rabbit-yard invaders” by converting her once green front lawn into a water-wise landscape she now calls “Nana’s Garden.”
Instead of rose bushes and grass, Lois turned to native California plants like succulents which require less water to maintain. With help from her best friend and young neighbors, Lois gradually made the transition.
With an unclear future for the state’s freshwater sources, California’s interest in seawater desalination continues to grow. Support for desalination in California is growing. Currently, California has 12 seawater desalination facilities, but only two are of a significant size. Although a key state agency has recently approved plans for two more moderate size facilities, the perception of seawater desalination in the state is quite poor and project proposals face a steep uphill battle.
Congressman Josh Harder Thursday stood near ground zero of where the fluctuating snowpack in the Sierra can cause serious problems when it is too little and when it is too much. Harder was at the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge that extends to the Stanislaus River just 10 miles south of Manteca. He was there to get an update on efforts to eradicate large invasive swap rodents known as nutrias that can seriously damage vegetation and levees.
