Three resourceful homeowners took advantage of free resources, including design and plant selection advice, to create beautiful drought-tolerant landscapes. Their projects were named winners of the 2023 Vallecitos Water District Landscape Makeover Contest.
A reflection on the very rainy past seasons may leave San Diego County residents optimistic about the water outlook for this summer. After all, we had record rainfall levels in the southern half of California and snow falling as low as 1,500 feet, generating a snowpack of 172% of normal. It’s very easy to think a 2023 drought has been averted.
Unfortunately, headlines don’t always convey the full story. Despite the significant rain and snow that fell locally and in the northern Sierra Mountains, Southern California must continue to be judicious about continued water conservation and permanent water use efficiency.
Rage Against the Machine’s “Take the Power Back,” is quickly becoming part of San Diego’s water wars soundtrack.
The power systems at play in that tune have nothing to do with California water politics. Nevertheless, its general message aimed at challenging oppressive systems sprang to mind while I watched Valley Center Municipal Water District board meeting last month.
Some of the region’s smaller, rural water buyers are fed up with how the city of San Diego’s been throwing its weight around recently and they see an opportunity to change things as the city scurries to stop two other agencies from defecting.
It’s summer! This is the garden’s harshest and most challenging season of the year, Southern California’s gardening equivalent to winter in most parts of the country.
Pay close attention to how much, how long and how often to water different kinds of plants in your garden.
Your goal is to water just right — not too much, not too little — for each.
Set down roots, water a tree and help bring shade to the city through La Mesa’s free tree program. The City of La Mesa is offering free trees to residents who have public right-of-ways located in front of their property. Public right-of-ways are the small strips of land between the sidewalk and street that often are covered with grass, dirt or cement. –
It was awesome to see so many local elected officials finally have their “aha!” moment on the South Bay sewage nightmare in June and complain so loudly and uniformly that the federal government’s response has been woefully inadequate. But any inclination to start handing out kudos should be tempered by a reality that in retrospect seems unfathomable: For years, many of these same leaders essentially accepted broken Tijuana sewage infrastructure constantly fouling our coast from the Mexican border to Coronado.
The slope of a 1920s La Mesa home went from a drab lawn to lush floral color with climate-appropriate plants, winning recognition from the Helix Water District as the runner-up in its 2023 WaterSmart Landscape Contest.
The Clean Energy Alliance Board of Directors approved a memorandum of understanding on July 27 that would bring the largest consumer of electricity within Carlsbad into the fold. The San Diego County Water Authority and Channelside, the company that owns the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, have an agreement that allows the water authority decision-making power on an electricity provider, according to a CEA staff report. The MOU, which is pending final approval later this year, would make the Clean Energy Alliance that provider.
