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Improving water conditions in the northern part of the state due to this year’s El Niño rains will mean loosening water restrictions in Long Beach.

The Water Department Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to move Long Beach to a Stage 1 water shortage — downgraded from the Stage 2 water shortage that was in effect starting May 2015. A Stage 1 shortage means residents may water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April through September. During the cooler months of October through March, a two-day per week watering schedule will be in effect.

It’s time to crank up those fans and air conditioners because the next few days are going to be hot.

The first extended heat wave of the season has been forecast for inland regions of the Southland for the rest of the week, with triple-digit temperatures on tap for the San Fernando and Antelope valleys, according to the National Weather Service.

A high-pressure system moving over Southern California from the Pacific Ocean is bringing the heat wave, said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

In the fourth year of California’s current drought, the absence of water has clearly affected our state, evident by the dead grass of front lawns, water usage limitations, and the ever-present lack of rain. Today, we can mitigate some of these problems with our modern infrastructure, siphoning water from elsewhere and distributing it throughout the state. But what about one hundred years ago, before the proliferation of pipelines and modern irrigation systems? Well, a little glimpse into the past can be made at the Irvine Museum’s current exhibition, “The Nature of Water.”

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, has called solving California’s water wars one of the toughest challenges of her career. Tougher, she says, than passing a federal assault weapons ban in 1994.

But the reason the 82-year-old lawmaker says she keeps pushing is simple: The state’s water infrastructure is outdated and its drought emergency persists. She has spearheaded a bill that would pump $1.3 billion into water desalination, recycling and storage projects.

 

 

One San Diego couple’s yard is certainly worth admiring: their drought-friendly landscape has just won a big contest. Bonita homeowners Barbara and Nick Amalfitano are the new winners of the Otay Water District’s 2016 landscape contest.

The changes they’ve made to their front and back yards over the years have reduced their water usage by 78 percent, and reduced their maintenance significantly. The couple’s property is three-quarters of an acre and looks more like a park than a model for water efficiency.