Tag Archive for: Conservation

Farrell Wants Agencies To Use Less Water

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

San Francisco is hoping to better prepare for the next drought. Though the city’s government agencies were good at cutting water use during the recent dry years, easily meeting a self-imposed goal of reducing consumption 10 percent between 2014 and 2017 and often conserving more, Mayor Mark Farrell wants to pick it up a notch. Farrell is asking the Board of Supervisors to approve an ordinance that would require the five city departments that use the most water to develop plans for trimming water use 20 percent.

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Examining Water Conservation, Availability And Security In South Orange County

/in , /by /Dana Point Timesby Daniel Ritz and Emily Rasmussen

Recently, unprecedented water shortages in the African metropolis of Cape Town, South Africa, have brought water security to international consciousness. According to a recent report by the United States Drought Monitoring agency at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln on May 17, the entirety of Orange County is still considered to be within what they call a “severe drought scenario.” According to that study, some areas of the Southwestern region’s precipitation (rainfall and snowpack are measured by the state of California by “water year,” which runs from Oct.1 to Sept. 30) was in the second percentile or lower.

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Prop. 72 Promises Tax Relief For Water Conservation

/in , /by /KCRA Sacramentoby Mike Luery

Rainwater is a precious resource in California and environmentalists are promoting a ballot measure that aims to protect homeowners who want to collect that water from higher taxes. It doesn’t happen often, but Proposition 72 actually has unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature, along with business, labor and environmental groups. In fact, there is no formal opposition to Prop. 72, which promises some rainy day relief.

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Compare your soil to these diagrams to determine your landscaping's soil composition. You can then adjust amendments to reach the optimum mix. Illustration: SDCWA Jar Soil Test

What Kind of Soil Do You Have? Take the Test

/in , /by by Waer News Network staff

If you have ever put a shovel into the ground in San Diego County, you have likely encountered the region’s impermeable soils. Impermeable soils are defined by their poor infiltration areas. This means water doesn’t flow through the soil to replenish the groundwater, because the soil is too dense.  

It also means water doesn’t soak evenly into the ground or flow through living soil to plants in a healthy way. No matter where you do your landscaping, you should concentrate on improving your soil structure as much as possible. That will help irrigation be more efficient and more cost-effective, and your landscape plants will receive the nutrients and water they need to flourish. 

Why Does Particle Size Matter in Soils? 

 Before you can build better soil, you need to figure out what type of soil you are working with. The three basic types of soil are: 

  • Clay: Soil made up of the smallest particles 
  • Silt: Soil made up of a mixture of particle sizes 
  • Sand: Soil made up of the largest particles 

 In general, sandy soils drain faster than clay soils, because there is more space between the larger particles. Soil structure also influences soil quality. Lifeless, compacted, sandy soil will not absorb water, while healthy clay soil will be more sponge-like, holding and releasing water.  
The “just right” soil – an even blend of sand, silt and clay – is called loam. 

Determining Your Soil Type Using The Jar Soil Test 

 Some tests can be done onsite to figure out what kind of soil you have. Others require lab analysis. Certain conditions require specialized tests, such as soil used for food production or soil receiving a lot of storm water. 

You can test your home landscaping soil yourself using a “Jar Test.” This is a fun project to do with kids. 

  1. Use a one-quart glass container. 
  1. Add one cup of soil from the garden. You can select one area or take samples from several areas and blend them together. 
  1. Add three cups of distilled water. 
  1. Close the jar and shake it until all the soil solids are suspended in water. 
  1. Put the jar on a shelf and wait 24 hours.  
  1. If the container is still cloudy, wait another 24 hours. 
  1. After 48 hours, the soil layers should be settled on the bottom. 
  1. Measure the layers in proportion to each other, with the total adding up to 100 percent. 
  1. Sand will be on the bottom, silt in the middle, and clay on top. 

 Refer to the graphic to determine your soil type, based on the proportions of sand, silt, and clay. 

 Which jar does your home sample look most like? 

Now you can work to improve your soil condition, providing the best possible foundation for your landscaping plants and the most efficient irrigation.  

 

This article was inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook available at SustainableLandscapesSD.org. Hardcopies are available free of charge at the Water Authority’s headquarters, 4677 Overland Ave., Kearny Mesa. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.   

 

 

  

Fallbrook Home Loads Up On Colors Of The Desert

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Nan Sterman

Ring the entry bell to Patrick Anderson and Les Olsen’s Fallbrook, California, garden, and the tall, redheaded Anderson is likely to greet you wearing teal-colored trousers and a melon orange shirt. His colorful persona, both inside and out, is only a hint of what’s to come. Anderson’s tour starts at the streetside garden he designed a few years ago. The gated driveway is flanked with angular planter beds stuccoed dusky sage green. The structure and geometry play off mass plantings with a limited plant palette. Still, each bed is filled with a dramatic combination of succulents and cacti.

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State Has ‘March Miracle’ In Water Conservation

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Steve Schoonover

There may not have been a “March Miracle” when it came to the snowpack in the state, but there was sure one when it came to water conservation. The State Water Resources Control reported that in March urban Californians used 24.8 percent less water than in March 2013, the benchmark year considered to be before the drought. That’s a dramatic turnaround from conservation numbers that have been dropping fairly steadily since June 2016, culminating in February with the state using more water than during the same month in 2013.

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BLOG: Improving Urban Water Conservation In California

/in , /by /California WaterBlogby Erik Porse

The relatively dry 2017-18 winter in California resurfaced recent memories of drought conservation mandates. From 2013-16, urban water utilities complied with voluntary, then mandatory, water use limits as part of Executive Order B-37-16. Urban water utilities met a statewide 25% conservation target (24.9%), helping the state weather severe drought. Winter rains in 2016-17 led to a reprieve from mandatory conservation. Freed from statewide requirements, urban water agencies ended mandatory cutbacks by meeting “stress tests” that included several years of secured water supplies. A useful outcome of the 2013-17 drought period was long-needed reporting data on monthly urban water use and conservation.

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OPINION: How Colorado River Basin States Can Improve Water Efficiency

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Mary Ann Dickinson

These are difficult times on the Colorado River. Diminishing flows and population growth are exacerbating the already contentious Colorado River allocations among the Colorado River Basin states. To move forward, state-level legal frameworks will have to be strong and comprehensive to ensure that water from existing allocations is conserved, and that states are prepared for the inevitable climate-induced shortages. While efforts around these issues are in play in varying degrees among the Colorado River Basin states, there is still a lot of strengthening that can be done.

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‘Fairy Garden’ Makeover For Drought-Ravaged Yard

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Chris Ross Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The front yard of the Point Loma home owned by Nina Ronstadt and Ken Klestinec once had a lush lawn and a cottage garden. But years of drought and limits on water use killed most of the plants. What was left, said Ronstadt via email, was “dried-up lawn and ugly dead landscaping.” She wanted to replace it with a meadow of drought-tolerant ground covers and a curving path, “but our 10-year-old daughter asked, ‘Where will I have a tea party?’ and ‘Where will our dog Cleo play ball?’” So, a circular patio area was added to the plan.

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