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Tucked between the corporate offices and condos of Kearny Mesa, a new model of next-generation landscape practices has sprouted at the headquarters of the San Diego County Water Authority — an oasis brimming with graffiti star clusters, Dallas red lantana, Santa Barbara daisies and dozens of other plant varieties arranged artfully between pavers, mulch and stone. As part of its efforts to promote water-use efficiency no matter the weather, the Water Authority recently installed the showcase garden to feature four core principles of sustainable landscapes — healthy soils, climate-appropriate plants, high-efficiency irrigation and using rainwater as a resource.

After several hours of confusion over the Trump administration’s position on a massive water delivery project, the Interior Department said Wednesday it would continue to work with the state on California WaterFix. Russell Newell, the department’s deputy communications director, told the Associated Press: “The Trump administration did not fund the project and chose to not move forward with it.” Bob Muir, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, one of the project’s biggest backers, said he had “no idea” what to make of Newell’s remarks.

Directors with the Santa Fe Irrigation District are mulling whether to impose a 9 percent rate increase on their customers in 2018, on the heels of 9 percent increases levied in 2016 and 2017. The proposed increase for 2018 is part of a three-year rate plan approved by the board in 2016. However, the board was urged at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 19, to hold off on the third installment of the rate plan, and instead consider changing the way it calculates rates for the largest water users, many of whom live in Rancho Santa Fe. (The district also serves Solana Beach and Fairbanks Ranch.)

The San Diego County Water Authority doesn’t have a position on the proposed Huntington Beach desalination plant – but we believe that decision benefits from accurate facts, and that Marco Gonzalez’s anti-desal commentary misfired on several fronts (“San Diego desalination project should be lesson to Orange County,” Oct 12). The Water Authority has not “dumped” desalinated seawater in a lake. In late 2015, we did store a relatively small amount of treated imported water in a reservoir while we resolved a mechanical issue at our delivery point with the Metropolitan Water District. That was addressed long ago.

Get ready to save the rain!  Solana Center, in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority, will hold a rain barrel pick up event in El Cajon on November 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  at the Water Conservation Garden during the annual Autumn Fest.  East County residents can pre-order rain barrels (by Oct. 29) for pick up in El Cajon online at https://www.rainwatersolutions.com/products/solana-center. The Water Conservation Garden is located at Cuyamaca College, 12122 Cuyamaca College Dr W, El Cajon, CA 92019. The discounted 50-gallon rain barrels cost $90 (retail price is $129).