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She Cut Her Water Bill in Half by Tearing Out Her Lawn and Going All in on ‘Hugelkultur’

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jeanette Marantos

When Elana O’Brien decided to eliminate the front lawn outside her Pasadena home, she had three goals: water conservation, increased privacy and a view more natural than a city street and the seasonal decorations in her neighbor’s yard.

Smothering her 850-square-foot lawn with cardboard and mulch — a.k.a. sheet mulching — wasn’t enough, O’Brien said. She wanted to add some height and contour to her yard, and she found the answer with — literally — a lot of sticks and stones, using a process known as hugelkultur.

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Western Drought Reaching Catastrophic Levels

/in , , /by /Ag Infoby Corryn La Rue

The western United States continues to suffer from a historic level of drought. California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot spoke during the Western Food and Ag Issues Summit hosted by Agri-Pulse. He offers a key example of the drought’s severity.

“We are facing a worsening regional drought across most of the American West that’s unprecedented in nature. I spent the first half an hour of my day with the Western Growers talking about the Colorado River Basin.”

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What the Startling Low Water Levels in Lake Mead Mean for LA

/in , , /by /LA istby Julia Paskin

NASA recently released startling satellite images of Lake Mead, which the agency notes is now at its lowest since April 1937, when the reservoir was still being filled for the first time.

A measurement taken on July 18 put Lake Mead at just 27% of capacity. That effect you see in the image above — with the lighter color on the cliffs where the water level once was — is known as the “bathtub ring.”

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California Drought Leading to Tens of Millions of Trees Dying in State

/in , , /by /CBS Bay Areaby Devin Fehely

California’s deepening drought has resulted tens of millions of tree deaths, increasing the risk of wildfires and threatening the state’s surviving trees.

“It’s obviously a concern and sad as well,” said Luis Garcia, who recently moved to the east foothills above San Jose’s Alum Rock Park.

Cal Fire estimates more than 173 million trees have died either from bark beetles or directly as a result of the drought over the past 20 years.

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American Canyon Facing Water Squeeze Amid Drought

/in , /by /Napa Valley Registerby Barry Eberling

American Canyon is making urgent calls for water conservation and suing Vallejo over a water disagreement as it tries to eke out every drop amid a historic drought.

The city’s water supplies are on the edge. Demand in recent years is about 2,800-acre feet of water annually. City officials estimate a potential 470 acre-foot deficit this year if demand remains the same.

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Opinion: The Drought is Decimating My Farm and Many Others. What California Should Do to Help Us

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Joe L. Del Bosque

As I drive across my family’s farm in the San Joaquin Valley, it feels as if I’m traveling on a chessboard. I cross one square with crops and then another without crops — our fields that must lay fallow. Our farm’s crops have been decimated by the drought.

Last year, reduced water deliveries in the state led to 395,000 acres of cropland being idled, according to UC Merced researchers, and about 8,750 agricultural workers lost their jobs.

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Plans to Import Water to the Salton Sea Seek Approval

/in , /by /NBC Palm Springsby Ceci Partridge

The Salton Sea Independent Review Panel has 3 viable ideas to restore the Salton Sea.

In a press release, the Independent Review Panel announced that there were 18 concepts submitted through “Request for Ideas” in 2017 and 2021. Of those 18 ideas, three made it to the top of the list. And one is to import water from the Sea of Cortez, a large body of water in Mexico.

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Buena Vista Lagoon Project Gets $1 Million From State

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

State Fish and Wildlife Department officials have awarded a $1 million grant to the San Diego Association of Governments for planning the restoration of the Buena Vista Lagoon at the Oceanside-Carlsbad border.

The $1 million announced last month comes on top of $3 million the state Wildlife Conservation Board awarded in December to SANDAG, which oversees planning and contracting for the proposed cleanup of the stagnant 220-acre lagoon.

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Water Authority General Manager Sandra Kerl Named CUWA Board Chair

/in , /by /The Vista Press Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl is taking the reins as board chair of California Urban Water Agencies (CUWA), a nonprofit corporation that supports development of sound water policy statewide.

The Water Authority is one of 11 member agencies of CUWA that are collectively responsible for serving drinking water to about two-thirds of California’s population. As the united voice for the state’s largest urban water purveyors, CUWA provides a technical perspective to promote common understanding and consensus-based solutions for urban water issues.

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Opinion: One Size Doesn’t Fit All for Drought Response, but All Californians Must Help

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Steve Welch and Sandy Kerl

All Californians play a role in preserving and enhancing our water supplies for a drought-resilient future. California again is in a familiar state of drought, although not all communities are affected equally.

Some regions are in extreme water shortage; others are not. We must address these differences. That starts with all Californians understanding where their water comes from and what they can do to use it wisely.

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