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Northern California Tops Southland in Water Conservation as Savings Improve Statewide

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Salvador Hernandez

New data suggest Californians are steadily reducing water usage in the face of severe drought, although cities and towns in the northern part of the state are cutting back more than those in the thirsty and more heavily populated south.

Water use in cities and towns across the state decreased 7.6% in June when compared with the same month in 2020 — significantly short of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s voluntary 15% goal last year, but a significant shift compared with the previous month, according to data released by the State Water Resources Control Board. In May, statewide savings were just 3.1%.

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Arizona’s Cities May See ‘Huge’ Water Cutbacks Soon. Here’s What That Means for Valley Residents

/in , , /by /12 Newsby Joe Dana

This month will be a moment of truth for Arizona cities.

The Federal Bureau of Reclamation is scheduled to release its “24-month study” that announces how much water Lake Powell and Lake Mead will release in 2023.

Meanwhile, seven western states must also present a plan to dramatically cut 2-4 million acre-feet of water. According to federal records, that amounts to as much as 25% of water allocated to the states.

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Ventura County’s City-by-City Guide to Water-Use Restrictions Amid California Drought

/in , , /by /VC Starby Cheri Carlson, Brian J. Varela, Wes Woods II, and Mike Harris

After California’s record dry start to the year, efforts to conserve water have created a patchwork of rules for residents that sometimes vary by city or even by neighborhood.

Emergency regulations took effect statewide, prohibiting water waste and requiring water providers to address a 20% water shortage.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California imposed stricter rules for several communities in Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

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Some Southern California Cities to Ban Outdoor Watering for Two Weeks

/in , , /by /The Orange County Registerby Brooke Staggs

Residents and businesses in some Southern California cities could be forced to let their lawns go brown in September, as emergency pipeline repairs cut off water supplies from the vital Colorado River for two weeks.

With a record-setting drought limiting other options, Burbank sent notice Tuesday that no sprinklers or other automated irrigation will be allowed at homes or businesses from Sept. 6-20. The city is encouraging residents to put buckets in their showers and mulch in their flower beds to help keep plants alive during the ban.

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Escondido Landscape Makeover Winner Goes from Weeds to Wow

/in , , /by /Water News Network

When Jeanne Reutlinger moved to her Escondido home in 2019, the neglected front yard was full of weeds, baked by the sun, and car exhausts from the street. Three years later, Reutlinger’s vision and hard work for a natural low maintenance habitat created a pollinator’s paradise full of native plants. Her efforts won the 2022 City of Escondido’s Landscape Makeover Contest.

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Tear Out Your Lawn, Save California

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jeanette Marantos and Lisa Boone

In case you missed the memo: Glossy green lawns fed by sprinklers arcing water into the sky just don’t work anymore in these days of lingering drought.

As the supply of water in reservoirs and wells continues to shrink around California, we need to change what and how we’re irrigating.

Public parks might arguably be good locations for large expanses of turf in Southern California’s low-rain climate, but around our houses?

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California Cities Introduce Rules and Fines on Water Use During the Drought

/in , , /by /FOX 40by Matthew Nobert

As California enters yet another year of drought, cities and counties across the state implemented water restrictions in the hopes of reducing strain on the states water sources.

According to the state, banning the watering of non-functional lawns will save hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water a year.

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California’s Megadrought is Worse Than You Think

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Anne C. Mulkern

When Maria Regalado Garcia tried to wash the dishes in her California home one recent morning, only a trickle of water emerged from the kitchen faucet. Other taps in her Tooleville house in rural Tulare County ran similarly dry.

The lack of water meant Garcia, 85, couldn’t brush her teeth properly or fill a swamp cooler that pumps out chilled air — a necessity with temperatures topping 100 degrees in her central California town. So Garcia fled to her granddaughter‘s home in Exeter, a few minutes away, to have a place cool enough to sleep.

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Opinion: A Water Crisis is Here, the West Must Act Aggressively, Collectively

/in , , /by /The Denver Post

A billboard in St. George urges residents to use less water — “Utah is in a drought.”

Other nearby billboards in Washington County advertise one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in the world and a soon-to-arrive luxury surfing community with three artificial lakes.

It certainly doesn’t feel like this arid city – hosting the nearby headwaters for two important tributaries to the Colorado River — is in a drought.

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Drought-Friendly Lawn Makeovers Take Root Among Santa Clara County Homeowners

/in , , /by /CBS Bay Areaby Len Ramirez

As the drought drags on, there is surging demand in Santa Clara County for rebates that pay you back for removing a water-thirsty lawn.

“I have so much more appreciation for the California native plants now,” said Julie Garrett, who re-landscaped her front yard in San Jose.

She used drought tolerant plants, and a patch of UC Verde buffalograss — a new alternative turf grass that can go long periods without water.

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