Tag Archive for: Drought

A 1920s La Mesa landscape used lush floral color with climate-appropriate plants, winning recognition from the Helix Water District as the runner-up in its 2023 WaterSmart Landscape Contest. Photo: Helix Water District lush landscape

Lush Landscape Recognized as Runner-Up in Helix Landscape Contest

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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 country garden with climate-appropriate plants is the creation of Joanna and Larry Henning. Photo: Helix Water District lush landscape

Joanna and Larry Henning created the country garden with climate-appropriate plants. Photo: Helix Water District

The contest promotes beautiful, water-efficient landscapes and rewards people for their inspiring gardens. Joanna and Larry Henning created the country garden with climate-appropriate plants.

The Hennings bought the property in La Mesa‘s historic downtown area in 2017. Its landscape was covered in weeds and poorly maintained trees. The couple wanted a new landscape that would fill in the expansive slope and be water efficient while staying true to the character of their home.

Before

The Hennings home prior to its landscape makeover. Photo: Helix Water District lush landscape

Before the landscape makeover. Photo: Helix Water District

After

The Hennings landscape after its makeover. Photo: Helix Water District lush landscape

After the landscape makeover. Photo: Helix Water District

Succulent cuttings

Planting an area this large with new plants can be expensive. But the couple were creative and resourceful, sourcing their plants for the new landscape design. Larry Henning used succulent cuttings from friends and family to plant most of their new landscape.

They supplemented the landscape with carefully chosen specimen plants, including protea, sages, and plumeria. These choices create the landscape’s variety of interesting shapes and colors. Five years after starting the project, even the slowest growing plants are fully grown and have transformed the landscape.

Irrigation efficiency

Plants receive water from inline drip irrigation with pressure-compensating drip emitters. Photo: Helix Water District lush landscape

Plants receive water from inline drip irrigation with pressure-compensating drip emitters. Photo: Helix Water District

The landscape uses water efficiently to provide enough water for the plants to flourish without waste. Watering schedules are controlled using a smart weather-based irrigation controller. It automatically adjusts for rain and weather changes. Plants receive water from inline drip irrigation with pressure-compensating drip emitters.

Pressure compensation is essential for sloped landscapes because it maintains even watering rates all along the slope and prevents overwatering areas at the bottom of the landscape, where pressure is higher. Mulch covers the drip system, which protects the soil and slows evaporation.

Colorful addition to the La Mesa neighborhood

The view from the patio at the Hennings' La Mesa home. Photo: Helix Water District

The view from the patio. Photo: Helix Water District

The landscape delivers ample curb appeal. From the street, trees frame the landscape, filled with shades of green and pops of color. Viewers can also see agave, cacti, and dozens of other succulents. Many display long cones of flowers. From the front patios, the garden provides a tranquil space for the family to enjoy.

District officials selected the landscape for special runner-up recognition due to its impressive transformation and efficient use of color and irrigation.

Helix Water District holds its landscape makeover contest annually. Entries are accepted starting every February through mid-May. For entry information, go to landscapecontest.com.

(Editor’s note: The Helix Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.) 

Santee Garden Oasis Wins 2023 Padre Dam Municipal Water District Landscape Contest

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Santee homeowners Edie and Tate Thomas created a beautiful landscape with California native plants to save water, beautify their home, and support the region’s wildlife. Their effort won the 2023 Padre Dam Municipal Water District landscape makeover contest.

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Levee Repairs Coming to Oroville

/in , , /by /Enterprise-Recordby Michael Weber

Oroville’s 109-year levee is in need of maintenance, and on Tuesday the Oroville City Council approved a services agreement with the Sutter Buttes Flood Control Agency to assign work projects around repairing the city’s levee.

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A beautiful Santee garden oasis is the winner of the 2023 Padre Dam Municipal Water District Landscape Contest. Photo: Padre Dam Municipal Water District

Santee Garden Oasis Wins 2023 Padre Dam Municipal Water District Landscape Contest

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Santee homeowners Edie and Tate Thomas created a beautiful landscape with California native plants to save water, beautify their home, and support the region’s wildlife. Their effort won the 2023 Padre Dam Municipal Water District landscape makeover contest.

Preserving rainfall by design 

The Thomases buried large unglazed clay pots in their yard called ollas, watering the plants with minimal water loss. Photo: Padre Dam Municipal Water District Santee Garden

Buried large unglazed clay pots in their yard called ollas, allows watering the plants with minimal water loss. Photo: Padre Dam Municipal Water District

In 2018, the couple began working on their makeover project. Edie Thomas is an architect, and Tate Thomas is a contractor. They took advantage of their building and design skills by creating a topography to capture and preserve the rainwater falling on their yard.

Their landscape is irrigated through underground rock ravines that collect rainwater in a rock-lined underground cistern reservoir which flows water to plants through gravity. They also buried large unglazed clay pots in their yard called ollas, which have above-ground access points to refill them with water. Plants wrap their roots around the porous ollas, which seep water out as needed, watering the plants with minimal water loss.

Edit Thomas advises other homeowners to do the same with their landscape topography.

“I always recommend people visualize a single drop of rainwater falling at the highest point of your landscape,” she said. “Watch where gravity takes that raindrop and plan your landscape around that flow.”

The pair also use drip irrigation about once a month along with occasional hand watering during extended dry periods.

Colorful variety of native plants featured

A wide variety of California native plants are featured in the winning landscape design. Photo: Padre Dam Municipal Water District Santee garden

A wide variety of California native plants are featured in the winning landscape design. Photo: Padre Dam Municipal Water District

Long nature walks and information from the California Native Plant Society inspired the Thomas’s to use native plants for most of their landscape, mixing colors and texture to be visually appealing. They have been richly rewarded with an ecosystem of butterflies, caterpillars, bees, birds, and bunnies. They describe their design concept as “playful chaos.”

Community space

The sidewalk in front of the garden is designed to be a community space for those walking by. The large California Coastal Live Oak provides shade to the retaining wall, designed as a place to sit and rest. Visitors can browse through books from the couple’s Little Free Library. Water-efficient herbs growing in the planter boxes under the tree are offered to those who pass by.

Edie and Tate Thomas spend most evenings on their patio, enjoying the space and watching their ecosystem thrive. They look forward to watching the plants grow and mature in the coming years and even decades.

“It’s so rewarding to see people come by and rest in the shade or take some rosemary for their dinner,” said Edie Thomas. “I love that we get to give a small square of land back to nature and that our neighbors enjoy it as much as we do.”

(Editor’s note: The Padre Dam Municipal Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.) 

San Marcos Unified School District Benefits From Free Water Use Survey

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Free water use surveys offered through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California provide both residential and commercial customers with recommendations to improve landscape and indoor water use efficiency. The surveys are available throughout Southern California, including San Diego County.

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Opinion: Arizona Has an Ambitious Goal to Save Water – If We Can Pull it Off

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Joanna Allhands

Five years from now, if all goes to plan, Arizona will have conserved 5 million acre-feet of water.

That’s enough to fill about 2.5 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Or about 70% of what the state is estimated to use in a year, from all sources.

Or a little less than double Arizona’s annual Colorado River allotment (that is, if we were getting our full allocation, which hasn’t happened in a while).

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Southwest States Facing Tough Choices About Water as Colorado River Diminishes

/in , , /by /CBS Newsby Bill Whitaker

The drought-stricken Colorado River is in critical condition. Almost two years ago, the federal government declared the first ever shortage on the river, triggering cuts to water supplies in the Southwest. Today, the river remains unsustainably low. The Colorado is the lifeblood of the region. It waters some of the country’s fastest growing cities, nourishes some of our most fertile fields, and powers $1.4 trillion dollars in annual economic activity. The river runs more than 1,400 miles, from headwaters in the Rockies to its delta in northern Mexico where it ends in a trickle.

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Austin Black, water conservation specialist for Waterwise Consulting, is overseeing the San Marcos School District water audit project. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

San Marcos Unified School District Benefits From Free Water Use Survey

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Free water use surveys offered through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California provide both residential and commercial customers with recommendations to improve landscape and indoor water use efficiency. The surveys are available throughout Southern California, including San Diego County.

The San Marcos Unified School District took advantage of the opportunity for water use surveys at 17 of the district’s school sites. It is among the largest single regional customer survey to date.

Austin Black, water conservation specialist for WaterWise Consulting, oversees the audit project.

“We are auditing the irrigation system of all of the schools with more than one acre of landscape area [for this project],” said Austin. “The survey tests all the different irrigation zones, looking at the type of landscape and plant material, and weather factors. We take all that data and calculate potential water savings based on our recommendations.”

Recommendations may include converting to drip irrigation, installing smart controllers, and replacing grass with a WaterWise landscape with a more efficient watering system.

(L to R): San Marcos USD groundskeeper Xavier McCurry, Austsin Black and Arlene Acosta of WaterWise Consulting discuss the SDUSD water audit. Photo: Vallecitos Water District San Marcos Unified

(L to R): San Marcos USD groundskeeper Xavier McCurry, Austin Black, and Arlene Acosta of WaterWise Consulting discuss the water audit. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Surveyors also adjust existing sprinklers for maximum efficiency and compile a list of repairs and upgrades to improve water use efficiency.

“In our effort to be good stewards of all resources used by the district, the decision to participate was an easy one,” said Ted Norman, SMUSD executive director of maintenance and operations. “We will review all our options and implement as many of the recommendations as we can. It’s a win for everyone.”

Simple improvements add up to significant savings

Water Conservation Specialist Arlene Acosta of WaterWise Consulting assesses irrigation coverage at San Marcos Elementary School. Photo: Vallecitos Water District San Marcos Unified

Water Conservation Specialist Arlene Acosta of WaterWise Consulting assesses irrigation coverage at San Marcos Elementary School. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

In one example, the audit report provided to the district for the San Marcos Elementary School estimates that implementing the recommended water-saving measures can reduce landscape water use by approximately 252,000 gallons. Project cost savings are $1,363 annually. If similar savings are achieved at 17 schools, this reflects significant net savings to taxpayers.

“We will submit the reports, and the district can make the changes as they wish,” said Black. “The goal is to create water savings for the entire district and the [water] agency as well.”

MWD can assign a consultant to work with SMUSD and other customers after the audit is completed to help prioritize changes recommended in the survey. The consultant services are free.

Residential surveys find water, cost savings for homeowners

Water Conservation Specialist Arlene Acosta of WaterWise Consulting conducts a residential audit. Photo: Vallecitos Water District San Marcos Unified

Water Conservation Specialist Arlene Acosta of WaterWise Consulting conducts a residential audit. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Homeowners can also take advantage of free surveys. Residential surveys look at both indoor and outdoor home water use.

“It’s a comprehensive survey checking for leaks and ways we can make the household more efficient,” said Black.

Along with irrigation improvements, the residential audit reviews the replacement of inefficient plumbing fixtures and other simple adjustments.

Customers of any of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies can visit the website waterefficiencysurvey.com. Enter home address to determine if your residence is located in a qualified area.

SLIDER San Marcos Unified School District water audit

Austin Black with WaterWise Consulting monitors usage during a water audit at San Marcos Elementary School. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

A certified landscape irrigation auditor will schedule a survey and provide written recommendations for qualifying properties. Participants will receive a written report that includes the following:

  • Data collected during the survey.
  • Recommendations for improving the site’s irrigation efficiency including system repairs, equipment updates, and irrigation scheduling.
  • Information about available financial incentives to help with the cost of recommended improvements.

Surveys are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Applying does not guarantee a survey will be provided. Properties may only receive one survey for the life of the program. After filling out an online application the next step is scheduling a visit from a certified landscape auditor.

San Diego County residents can also take advantage of savings with rebates on a variety of water-saving technologies such as high-efficiency clothes washers and toilets, rain barrels and irrigation nozzles.

(Editor’s note: The Vallecitos Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.) 

How Much Snow Still Covers California’s Mountains This July?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Abhinanda Bhattacharyya

In a typical year, California mountains are largely snow-free at this stage in the summer, with some exceptions at higher elevations. This, however, has not been a typical year. In the last couple of weeks of July, large swaths of the Sierra continued to be covered in snow, making for tricky and in some cases treacherous hiking conditions.

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Change on Water Rate Structure Seen to ‘Encourage Conservation’ and ‘Allow PWP to Reach Goals’

/in , /by /Pasadena Nowby Keith Calayag

Pasadena is expected to change how water bills are calculated, leading to higher bills for some customers. The new rate structure and rates to be determined soon will allow the utility to meet its revenue requirement.

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