They’re back! Arising out of their dusty/muddy/sandy graves, the zombie lakes of California are reclaiming their own. For geologic ages, they have lain there, undead — well, often drought-dry, and not their original saturated selves. But now the monumental rains of this winter and spring filled them and then some, reminding us of California’s paleo-hydrology, our ancient lakes and waterways.
In partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority and the City of San Marcos, the Vallecitos Water District offers a series of five WaterSmart landscape design workshops in August and September to help its customers redesign and install new water-saving, sustainable landscapes at a convenient North County location.
Classes take place every other Wednesday evening from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. starting August 2 at the Vallecitos Water District, 201 Vallecitos De Oro in San Marcos. The series is now open for registration at www.sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation/classes/. Scroll down to find the in-person course schedule or use the QR Code below. Prior registration is required.
Use the QR Code to access landscape design workshop information and to register.
Summer is an ideal time to begin the workshop series. Participants who complete all five workshops receive a free visit to their home by a professional landscape architect to help them put a plan in place for installation during the cooler fall and winter months.
The Delaplanes received first place in the 2022 Vallecitos Water District landscape makeover contest due to the addition of a working bioswale. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
Residents in San Diego County have used the know-how from the free workshops to convert more than 1.5 million square feet of grass into beautiful, sustainable landscapes. They use less water and provide a lifestyle-friendly yard ideal for San Diego’s climate. New landscapes installed through the program have been proven to reduce water use by up to 37%.
Webinar topics cover residential landscape design for the homeowner, plant palettes, healthy soil, irrigation retrofits, and streamlined landscape maintenance. More than 8,000 San Diego County residents have taken these courses to date.
Low-water use plants, improved irrigation technologies, and WaterSmart classes reduce energy use, protect natural resources, and create beautiful outdoor living spaces as well as save water.
The Chens transformed their love for succulents into an award-winning landscape makeover. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
Landscape watering accounts for more than half of a typical household’s water use in California. WaterSmart workshops help residents create a drought-tolerant, water-efficient landscape with a design that maximizes enjoyment of the outdoor space. In addition, homeowners can save the time and expense required for ongoing maintenance of turf.
San Diego County homeowners may be eligible for between $2 and $4 per square foot to remove grass and replace it with low water-use plants better suited to our region’s hotter, drier weather. All customers are eligible for the base rebate of $2 per square foot. Residents in unincorporated San Diego County may be eligible for additional incentives through the Waterscape Rebate Program.
Vallecitos is hosting FREE workshop on 9/13 to give you strategies to use our limited water sources wisely, including integrating stormwater capture into your landscape & conserving water w/simple irrigation retrofits. Register: https://t.co/UAxeiF0VAg. @sanmarcoscity @sdcwa pic.twitter.com/FEZ0Q2mkSV
— Vallecitos Water 💦 (@vallecitoswater) July 22, 2023
(Editor’s note: The Vallecitos 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 Climate Registry has recognized Helix Water District as a Water-Energy Leader Gold organization after the district reduced its electric use by 15% and greenhouse gas emissions by 40%.
The Climate Registry made the announcement this month after the University of San Diego’s Energy Policy Initiative Center confirmed the district’s 2019 and 2021 total greenhouse gas emissions are 40% lower than those in 2009. EPIC’s findings were verified by a third party.
Helix achieved these reductions through a comprehensive lighting retrofit program, new lighting management system and an upgrade to the HVAC system at the district’s R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant. Helix also transitioned its diesel fleet to 100% renewable diesel fuel.
The award-winning Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir enhances drinking water supply reliability and operational efficiency for the region. Construction was completed June 23 on the San Diego County Water Authority project in North San Diego County.
Eleven years ago, when the San Diego County Water Authority was going through the final stages of approving what had, by that time, become a decade-long odyssey to create the first desalination plant on the West Coast, the agency made a prediction.
As stakeholders across the U.S. West prepare to rewrite the rules on Colorado River conservation, experts are urging them to consider Mexico’s needs up front.
The 1,450-mile waterway, which stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Sonoran Desert, is considered the lifeblood for about 40 million people in both countries.
After months of pounding rains and a cooler than usual June, California reservoirs are bursting with water leaving only 6% of the state currently in drought. A year ago, more than 99% of California was in drought, according to the U.S. drought monitor. Torrential rains transformed an arid landscape into a water rich environment with rushing waterways, brimming lakes and swollen underground basins.
Amid a historic heatwave and months of drought, Mexico’s government has launched the latest phase of a cloud seeding project it hopes will increase rainfall. The project, which began in July, involves planes flying into clouds to release silver iodide particles which then, in theory, will attract additional water droplets and increase rain or snowfall.
While temperatures push well above 100 degrees, it’s easy to forget that Arizona’s deserts lie on top of groundwater basins that formed during the Ice Age. The state’s rural communities rely on that water, which experts say is a finite resource. But in most cases, it’s not regulated in any meaningful way. That lack of regulation has begun to show, as wells dry up and local residents call for action.
The ongoing and historic drought has many Valley cities declaring water shortages. In Mesa, the city is in stage one of its water shortage management plan. While they’re reducing water usage citywide, Mesa is also spending millions to boost its water infrastructure. Construction started on a 10.5-mile pipeline on Monday. The plan is to build out the Central Mesa Reuse Pipeline and it begins at Greenfield and Southern.
