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.
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. Photo: Jill Wellington/Pixabay
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.
The City of Folsom announced Monday it will require residents to reduce water use by 20%. The water-use restriction will go into effect Aug. 30.
This comes as the water supply across the state continues to dwindle amid a crippling drought. Folsom itself draws water from the American River at Folsom Lake, which has lower levels than it did during the 2014-15 drought. This is the second driest year on record since 1977.
A “mega-drought” across the Southwest will force the federal government to declare a water shortage on the Colorado River this month. The decision would be historic for the watershed, which serves 40 million people in seven states: California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. The river system provides irrigation that turns desert into farmland and is an important source of drinking water and hydroelectric power. The looming first-ever declaration will be triggered when the country’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, dips below a certain level.
It takes time to learn about the concepts behind the watershed approach to creating a healthy and sustainable landscape. Once you have these concepts mastered, the most important step of all comes next. Consider the goals you want to achieve in your garden for landscaping success.
It might be difficult to know where to start. Many people accept an ocean of green but thirsty lawn and never give much thought to landscaping goals. Consider one of these worthy objectives.
Most native Southern California plants do well in hotter temperatures, so summer plant care is easy with a little planning. Photo: Annie Spratt/Pixabay
Well designed and operated irrigation systems can reliably deliver the water your landscaping needs without waste or excess. Photo: AxxLC/Pixabay
Building healthy living soil that will act like a sponge, even if it rains a lot
Capturing all the rainwater from the roof and re-routing downspouts to fill rain barrels instead of running onto hardscaping
Converting spray irrigation to micro or drip irrigation, with the intention of turning it off after establishing your waterwise landscaping
Making pathways and driveways more permeable
San Marcos resident Jeff Moore’s landscape makeover including artistic touches won recognition in the 2018 Landscape Makeover Contest. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Making room for a small patio with room for an outdoor table or seating
Adding pathways, Zen gardens, and interesting materials and patterns
Integrating beautiful objects such as an art piece, interesting container collection, or items like sundials
One goal we can all support: creating a beautiful sustainable landscape that reduces your water use by 70 percent or more. We can all agree on this definition of landscaping success no matter your individual goals.
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.
Moving both irrigation and our limited natural rainfall through your yard into storage areas via the use of various landscaping features borrow Mother Nature’s engineering. This is especially important during hot, dry summer months. If your yard is perfectly flat, you must move soil and features around to create more water-retaining contour areas.
First, complete a Percolation Test. This will provide critically important information about your landscape soil’s specific capacity to drain and to absorb water. Prep your soil as needed to turn it into a water-retaining sponge as much as possible before getting to work on rainwater capture plans.
NOTE: If you are working with existing hillsides, it’s best to get professional advice before grading or other significant changes. Before any digging, call Dig Alert 8-1-1 or digalert.org
Channels can be planted or lined with rocks and small boulders to resemble natural creek beds. Photo: Sweetwater Authority
Basins and swales are shallow depressions or channels no more than 12 to 24 inches deep, on gently sloped or nearly flat landscapes. Basins and swales move water over short distances. The plants in and around the depressions capture and sink small volumes of surface water.
Small, shallow depressions work best in clay soil areas, while sandy soils may accommodate the deeper depressions up to two feet. Channels can be planted or lined with rocks and small boulders to resemble natural creek beds.
Berms are mounds of raised soil, usually planted, that can border basins and swales or be used alone. Berms help contain and move water around, increasing the holding capacity of basins and swales
Boulders can add points of interest and slow down water runoff in your landscaping. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Boulders are useful to retain small berms or the edges of swales. They also create points of interest in your landscaping.
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.
Farmers are facing a water shortage right as we head into peak growing season. It’s hitting their bottom line — and potentially yours.
Solano County farmer Spencer Bei shows us one of the wells his family uses to farm 15,000 acres. He says he is losing pressure now as he is pumping because he is pulling more from the aquifer due to a lack of surface water and no rain in sight.
As California experiences another drought cycle, homeowners in the San Diego region continue to makeover their landscapes with native plants that need less water. An Escondido couple recently transformed their landscape to save water and won the City of Escondido Landscape Makeover Contest too.
Escondido homeowners Michael and Teresa Everett first learned about the 2021 Escondido Landscape Makeover Contest from Escondido family-owned El Pantio Nursery. It was the motivation they needed to makeover their landscaping with native plants.
“As concerned Californians, we wanted to do our part to lessen our impact on San Diego county’s water resources,” said Teresa Everett. “We decided to switch to a waterwise landscape using all California native plants. Landscaping with native plants can reduce water usage by 60% or more. There is also a reduction in one’s carbon footprint as there is no need for mowing or trimming lawns.”
The Everett home before their landscaping makeover. Photo: Courtesy Michael and Teresa Everett
The new garden provides habitat for native insects, birds, animals, and people too. Photo: City of Escondido
The Everetts also reduced yard waste and the need for soil additives since California native plants are adapted to the lean clay soil in San Diego County.
While the environmental reasons were compelling, the Everetts also wanted to create a habitat garden that was both beautiful and supported the local ecosystem.
“California is in the top 25 most bio-diverse areas in the world,” the couple pointed out. “Our housing developments have crowded out native plants. Native plants have evolved to provide exactly the right food in exactly the right package to attract and feed the animals that are unique to our California environment.”
The Everetts’ landscaping shows how to create a lush yard and be waterwise. Photo: City of Escondido
The Everetts planted native trees, including Coastal live oak, Western sycamore, Western redbud, and Palo Verde Desert Museum. They added shrubs, including manzanitas, ceanothus, Mexican elderberry, salvias, desert mallow, and wooly bluecurls. California fuchsias, San Diego sunflowers, and Pacific irises add color. Grasses and vines round out the landscape palette.
“Ever since we re-landscaped, we have observed a huge increase in birds, lizards, butterflies, and other pollinators in our yard. Waterwise native gardens are also extremely beautiful,” said the couple.
Salvias and poppies provide color in the landscaping plan. Photo: City of Escondido
After the makeover, the Everetts rarely need to irrigate their landscape between late fall and late spring. During drier months, the landscape is irrigated twice monthly. The homeowners also maintain a vegetable and herb garden using rainwater collected in two rain barrels with 260-gallon capacity and by hand when necessary.
“We now spend many hours relaxing and bird watching in our yard,” said the Everetts. “Our outdoor space is now a much more enriching experience that gives us a greater sense of our connection to nature and a sense of place.”
The landscaping plan includes features like this dry riverbed. Photo: City of Escondido
“By re-landscaping our small property, we hope to take one small step in restoring San Diego county’s rich biodiversity. Sharing the successes of our garden with others will hopefully encourage other homeowners to convert their gardens to water and habitat smart landscapes.”
Find tips on how to create a WaterSmart home and garden, including details on rebates: www.watersmartsd.org/
(Editor’s note: The City of Escondido is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
Hydrozones are the different areas of your landscaping where plants with similar irrigation needs are grouped together. This allows you to apply water as efficiently as possible through rainwater catchment, supplemented by irrigation, while avoiding unnecessary and wasteful overwatering.
Sun exposure, slopes, and plant root depths need to be taken into consideration along with plant water needs. All these characteristics create specific hydrozones. Even when the soil is the same, a full sun area is one hydrozone, full shade areas are another, and mixed exposure areas create yet a third. Shade from buildings or trees can also raise or lower temperatures.
Each irrigation valve should water its own separate hydrozone populated by plants with similar water needs, living conditions, and root depths. Plants with high water needs such as vegetables or lawns need to be grouped into their own hydrozone. Sprinklers or emitters on this zone shouldn’t overwater anything else.
Inspect your sprinkler heads regularly to make sure they are not obstructed or watering onto the pavement or other hardscapes. Photo: Irrigation Association
Each hydrozone must be able to handle enough water volume for every emitter to work properly. Hydrozones should have individual sprinklers or emitters delivering only the required amount of water, spaced out so every plant in the hydrozone receives an equal and accurate amount. If two sprinklers cross over one another, plants receiving water from both will receive more water than needed. In this example, sprinklers should be turned away from each other, or be reset farther apart. Professional landscapers call this “matched precipitation.”
This article is part of a year-long series inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook available at SustainableLandscapesSD.org. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.
Growers are dealing with severe cutbacks in the surface water deliveries they normally receive from reservoirs.
The lack of steady irrigation has already impacted spring cropping decisions made by farmers.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
