Tag Archive for: California drought

Padre Dam Municipal Water District-Landscape Makeover Winner-WaterSmartSD-drought

Winter Weather Perfect Time for WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Series

/in , /by

December rainfall and cooler temperatures in San Diego County make it the perfect time of year for homeowners to create low-water-use landscaping to fit their needs. The San Diego County Water Authority offers its first 2022 WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Series of free online classes starting Wednesday, February 2. The classes provide homeowners site-specific knowledge, skills, and confidence to transform their thirsty turf yard into a beautiful, climate-appropriate, water-efficient space.

Registration for the four-class series closes on Monday, January 17. Register at WaterSmartSD.org. There is no fee to participate, but course participation is limited.

Custom plans and one-on-one professional guidance

Landscape Makeover-Sweetwater Authority-Water Conservation-native plants

This landscape makeover winner shows how contouring your landscaping can help retain and conserve water. Photo: Sweetwater Authority

Water Authority Water Resources Specialist Joni German said the course will give participants a customized roadmap to follow.

“We have different templates and themes to design the garden you want,” said German. “Do you need turf for the kids or pets? A meditation space? Or do you want to screen out undesirable views? With our help, you design the landscape that fits your lifestyle.”

Ideal time for new plants

German said with soils now soft and spongy, it’s the ideal time of year to add new plants and creating a new water-wise landscape.

As part of the course, participants will receive a site visit prior to the class, a preliminary onsite CAD drawing of their property to work with during the class, and one-on-one coaching from landscaping professionals.

Turf rebate programs offer rebates of up to $3 per square foot toward project costs for upgrading existing turf. To date, several hundred homeowners have transformed their landscapes into beautiful, climate-appropriate mini-watersheds which yield benefits including stormwater runoff reduction and lessening green waste in addition to saving water.

Positive participant feedback for free program

Eileen Koonce says she was able to install her own landscaping with the help she received from instructors. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Eileen Koonce says she was able to install her own landscaping with the help she received from course instructors. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

German said the program has evolved through the years in part due to feedback from previous participants, including information about capturing rainwater and cutting back on irrigation.

“People frequently say to us, ‘I can’t believe this program is free!’ Recent participants tell us the time flies, and they go from feeling overwhelmed to confident about their landscape projects,” said German.

Vallecitos Water District Development Services Coordinator Eileen Koonce participated in the course as a new homeowner to reduce her water usage by removing her thirsty front lawn.

Koonce said she enjoyed working with the instructors.

“They bring the language down to the do-it-yourselfers,” said Koonce. “They walk you through every part of it and if you have questions, they can help you out. You feel empowered because you can understand the process.”

Landscaping design and planining

Landscaping designers can expedite your landscape makeover plans. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

Koonce tackled most of the design work herself with the help of instructors, who are licensed landscape architects. Instructors helped Koonce pick out the plants and choose an irrigation system.

After participants sign up for the four-class course, a site visit will take place with a local, licensed landscape specialist who will create a professionally-drawn site plan of your specific project area. The plans becomes a personal road map to navigate through the classes. Before the class concludes, homeowners get one-on-one coaching to help select plants and finalize their plan.

Watch the preview video

Homeowners with questions about the course can email or call (858) 598-5085 for information. Space is limited so homeowners are encouraged to apply now at WaterSmartSD.org. 

(Editor’s note: The Sweetwater Authority, Vallecitos Water District, and the Padre Dam Municipal Water District are three of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)

Continued Drought Early in a Possibly Wet Year

/in , /by /California WaterBlogby Jay Lund

California’s 2021 calendar year is over, but its 2022 Water Year (which started October 2021) is already three months old and still early in its wet season.  So far this wet season is actually wet.

It is a good time to assess the condition of the present drought and whether it is likely to end with this wet season.  And under such conditions, what are water management activities and policy initiatives we should be doing?

Full Story

Phoenix Among Those Voluntarily Losing Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca

The city of Phoenix this week outlined how it will voluntarily contribute water to a regional plan to shore up the country’s largest reservoir that delivers Colorado River water to three states and Mexico.

The river cannot provide seven Western states the water they were promised a century ago because of less snow, warmer temperatures and water lost to evaporation. Water managers repeatedly have had to pivot to develop plans to sustain it for the long-term.

Phoenix, the nation’s fifth-largest city, is among entities in the river’s lower basin that are part of the “500+ Plan” meant to delay further mandatory shortages. All pieces of the plan haven’t been finalized, but farmers and Native American tribes are expected to play a big role.

The Colorado River serves more than 40 million people in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Wyoming, Utah and Mexico. Lake Mead and Lake Powell store the water and are used to gauge the river’s health.

Full Story

California’s Recent Rains Won’t End Our Stubborn Drought. These Charts Show Why

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

California just received more precipitation in the last three months of 2021 than it got in the previous year. The mountains are heaped with historic amounts of heavy snow. But the rain had no sooner given way to sun than state regulators issued new rules forbidding water-wasting practices such as hosing down sidewalks and driveways. What’s going on?

Full Story

No, California’s Drought Isn’t Over. Here’s Why.

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

In a clear sign that the drought persists, California today adopted new emergency regulations aimed at stopping residents from wasting the state’s precious water.

The rules ban practices such as hosing down sidewalks and driveways with drinking water, washing cars without a shutoff nozzle on the hose and irrigating lawns and gardens too soon after rain.

Full Story

California Approves New Water-Wasting Rules as Conservation Falls Below Newsom’s Target

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Recent rains have eased California’s drought, but in the dry November before December’s deluge, many of the state’s residents still weren’t heeding calls to conserve water.

For the fifth month in a row since Gov. Gavin Newsom asked California residents to voluntarily cut water use, they missed the target — by a lot, largely due to lagging conservation by Southern Californians. Amid that news, and emphasizing that California’s drought still isn’t over, state water officials approved new rules Tuesday to prohibit wasteful water practices like washing cars without a hose shutoff nozzle.

Full Story

California is Suddenly Snow-Capped and Very Wet. But How Long Will the Water Rush Last?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by Hayley Smith and Paul Duginski

The dusty hills of Griffith Park are sprouting shades of green. In Pasadena, water is streaming through arroyos that only weeks ago sat caked and dry. And from the perfect vantage point downtown, the distant San Gabriel Mountains are gleaming with crowns of snow.

After one of the driest years in recent memory, Los Angeles — and California — is off to a notably wet start. The state received more precipitation in the final three months of 2021 than in the previous 12 months, the National Weather Service said.

Full Story

Lake Oroville Rises 89 Feet, Power Plant Resumes Operation After December Rains

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers
After two years of setbacks and struggles due to a severe drought, California got some good water news on Tuesday. The reservoir behind the tallest dam in the state and the nation, Lake Oroville in Butte County, now has enough water in it after heavy December rains that the power plant began operating again.
Full Story

Opinion: Despite Heavy Snow, We Must Seek a New Water Path

/in , , /by /AgAlert (California Farm Bureau)by Justin Fredrickson

California is facing an indisputable fact: We need, in a big way, to get busy finding water alternatives to the long-indispensable Sierra Nevada snowpack.

Yes, we’ve been blessed by recent exceptional snowfall, perhaps a snowy feast after an extended water famine. But year to year, California’s frozen reservoir—the mountain snow whose melt feeds farming and quenches the thirst of Californians—is dwindling and increasingly unreliable as the climate changes.

California Adopts Water Restrictions as Drought Drags On

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

Californians will face mandatory restrictions governing how they can water their lawns and wash their cars for the second time in less than a decade as the state withers under another drought.

The rules adopted Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board are fairly mild — no watering lawns for 48 hours after a rainstorm or letting sprinklers run onto the sidewalk— and could take effect as soon as the end of the month. Scofflaws could face $500 daily fines, though regulators say they expect such fines will be rare, as they were in the last drought.

Full Story