Tag Archive for: Drought

Check Before Overwatering Your Landscaping

Do you know if your landscaping really needs water? Even if you have waterwise irrigation on a properly timed schedule for your individual landscaping plan, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s really needed. You could be wasting water assuming it’s necessary. Appearances can be misleading.

California Enacted a Groundwater Law 7 Years Ago. But Wells Are Still Drying Up — and the Threat is Spreading

Kelly O’Brien’s drinking water well had been in its death throes for days before its pump finally gave out over Memorial Day weekend.

It wasn’t a quiet death at O’Brien’s home in Glenn County, about 100 miles north of Sacramento.

Spigots rattled. Faucets sputtered. The drinking water turned rusty with sediment. In the end, two houses, three adults, three children, two horses, four dogs and a couple of cats on her five acres of land were all left with no water for their sinks, showers, laundry, troughs and water bowls.

As extreme drought spread across the state, O’Brien feared that the water underneath her property had sunk so low that it was out of the reach of her well.

New Water Cuts Are Coming in the West

In this summer of wildfires, heat waves and drought, there was another bit of bad environmental news out of the West this week. Federal officials declared a water shortage at Lake Mead, the huge reservoir on the Colorado River near Las Vegas, setting off sharp cuts in water to Arizona farmers next year.

Californians May Soon Be Facing Mandatory Water Restrictions

California’s current voluntary water restrictions may soon become mandatory.

Governor Gavin Newsom said this week that statewide restrictions may be imposed in late September, roughly two weeks after the September 14 recall election.

In San Diego County, residents and businesses have managed to cut their water use by half since the early 1990s. While our region as a whole has done a strong job saving water, a historic drought continues to intensify throughout California and the western United States.

Fresno, Clovis Battle Drought With ‘Purple Pipe’ Water. Toilet-to-Tap Next?

As the drought crisis worsens throughout California, Fresno and Clovis leaders, as well as residents, are answering the challenge.

Both cities are recycling water through “purple pipe” systems to offset non-potable usages like landscape irrigation, cooling towers, and agricultural irrigation.

Overwatering-drought-landscaping-Conservation Corner

Check Before Overwatering Your Landscaping

Do you know if your landscaping really needs water? Even if you have waterwise irrigation on a properly timed schedule for your individual landscaping plan, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s really needed. You could be wasting water assuming it’s necessary. Appearances can be misleading.

Rely on data from an old-school method of measurement. Because soil may appear dry on the surface, stick your finger into the soil and see if the soil is wet beneath the surface. If the soil is moist up to your second knuckle, it doesn’t need any more water. Wait for another 24 to 48 hours, then recheck the soil.

If you don’t want to ruin a manicure, use a soil probe to measure the moisture in the soil to determine whether the soil needs more water.

You can also observe plant health. How vibrant are your plants? This can be tricky because sometimes the signs of overwatering and underwatering will produce similar results in plants.

Watering your plants by hand is a great way to control exactly how much water they receive and observe them closely to be sure they are flourishing in the early stages.

Watering your plants by hand is a great way to control exactly how much water they receive and observe them closely to be sure they are flourishing in the early stages. Photo: Jill Wellington/Pixabay

Underwatering symptoms include:

  • Soil is bone dry
  • Older leaves turn yellow or brown and drop off
  • Leaves are wilted
  • Leaves curl and become brittle
  • Stunted plant growth

Overwatering symptoms include:

  • Soil is constantly saturated and soggy
  • Leaves turn a lighter shade of green, or turn yellow
  • Younger plant shoots wilt
  • Leaves are green and brittle
  • Algae and mushrooms are in the soil
  • Growth is excessive

Rely mainly on objective measurements. Symptoms at both irrigation extremes can be similar. Using simple measurement tools can help ensure the correct amount of irrigation takes place without withholding needed moisture, but without overwatering and wasting resources.

This article is part of a year-long series inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.

Southern California Water Officials Declare Supply Alert Amid Worsening Drought

Just one day after U.S. officials declared the first-ever water shortage on the Colorado River, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California issued a water supply alert calling on the region to conserve vital resources and prepare for continued drought.

The MWD supplies water to approximately 19 million people across six Southern California counties and is one of the largest water distributors in the nation. The decision by its board Tuesday marks the first time in seven years the agency has issued an official supply alert — the third of four escalating phases in its water supply framework.

The declaration marks a call for regional agencies and consumers to voluntarily reduce their water consumption in order to mitigate the need for more severe restrictions.

Buy Water as Western Shortages Continue, Attorneys Say

Western water scarcity is prompting big law firms in the Colorado River Basin to advise their clients to pursue conservation measures — but also to buy more water.

A projected shortage and first-ever water cuts announced Monday by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation means that cities, industry, and commercial businesses need to prepare for the likelihood the current 21-year megadrought in the region represents a “new normal.”

The Drought Is Drying Up California’s Economy: Who’s Responsible For Opening The Floodgates?

Cropless fields, fishless rivers, burning forests, empty reservoirs and powerless dams — either you’ve seen the headlines, or you’re living it. America’s West has run out of water.

For most of us, this is a reckoning moment. Water exists in abundance. It’s cheap, free-flowing and limitless. We’re quite literally swimming in the stuff.

But suddenly, that’s no longer true. California’s surging population and farming-dependent economy, coupled with sustained drought, means that demand has completely drowned out supply.

California Enacted a Groundwater Law 7 Years Ago. But Wells Are Still Drying Up — and the Threat Is Spreading

Kelly O’Brien’s drinking water well had been in its death throes for days before its pump finally gave out over Memorial Day weekend.

It wasn’t a quiet death at O’Brien’s home in Glenn County, about 100 miles north of Sacramento.

Spigots rattled. Faucets sputtered. The drinking water turned rusty with sediment. In the end, two houses, three adults, three children, two horses, four dogs and a couple of cats on her five acres of land were all left with no water for their sinks, showers, laundry, troughs and water bowls.