Tag Archive for: Water Conservation

The Desert Museum Palo Verde tree is an ideal low water use choice for Southern California landscaping. Photo: Danielle Bardgette/Creative Commons-Flickr trees

Waterwise Tree Choices for Watersmart Landscaping

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Trees are the single most valuable addition to your waterwise landscaping. Trees create improved water quality, resulting in less runoff and erosion. They also improve air quality and provide habitat for insects, birds, and animals. Healthy, mature trees are so beneficial, they can add an average of 10% to a property’s overall value.

When thoughtfully placed around buildings, the cooling and insulation created by a tree’s canopy can reduce air conditioning needs by 30%, and can save 20-to-50% of the energy used for heating.

Before you choose landscaping trees, research their size at maturity. When you first purchase it, it’s in a 15- or 25-gallon container and it’s hard to imagine it growing above your roofline. But a small tree can become a 30-foot tall tree with a 30-foot wide canopy of branches in a few short years. If you select a large tree species, it could be 70 feet tall and equally as wide.

Ensure tree placement gives you a sufficient distance away from your home or other structures. Small trees (30 feet wide or less at maturity) should be placed no closer than 10 feet. Large trees (70 feet wide or more at maturity) should be planted no closer than 20 feet from a house.

Top waterwise tree choices

The Desert Willow is an ideal tree for its size, flowers, and waterwise nature. Photo: Pixabay

Which trees are the best waterwise choices for the San Diego region? These are five proven favorites.

Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)

Desert Museum Palo Verde (Parkinsonia ‘Desert Museum’)

California Redbud (Cercis occidentalis)

Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamus floribundus)

Hybrid Strawberry Tree (Arbutus ‘Manna’)

Consider large shrubs as alternative choices

Large shrubs can be smart alternatives for screening unwanted views. Be considerate of the viewshed of your neighborhood. Will the shrubs block a special view for others?

Several best choices of waterwise small  trees and shrubs for screening

California lilac (Ceanothus) is a native plant to San Diego County and produces spectacular blooms in early spring. Photo: Wikimedia

California lilac (Ceanothus) is a native plant to San Diego County and produces spectacular blooms in early spring. Photo: Wikimedia

Catalina Cherry (Prunus iliofolia ssp. Lyonii)

Pacific Was Myrtle (Myrica california)

Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana)

Tecate Cypress (Cuppressus forbesii)

California Mountain Lilac (Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’)

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.

San Diego Region Can Outlast Drought Conditions Until 2045, Water Authority Says

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby City News Service Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Despite a drought emergency declaration in northern and central California, the San Diego County Water Authority said Tuesday the region was well-positioned to outlast drought conditions for several decades. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded a drought emergency declaration from Sonoma and Mendocino counties to 41 counties.

About 30% of the state’s population is now covered by the drought declarations, including the greater Sacramento area and Fresno, Merced and Stanislaus counties in the San Joaquin Valley. Southern California has largely been excluded from the declarations.

“Governor Newsom’s latest drought emergency declaration is a grim reminder of the growing water supply challenges across California — and of the value of three decades of our collective dedication to use water efficiently combined with strategic investments that protect San Diego County from dry years,” said Gary Croucher, board chair of the San Diego County Water Authority. “Thanks to efforts of ratepayers, the water authority and our 24 member agencies, we have sufficient water supplies for 2021 and the foreseeable future.”

This is the second major drought California has experienced in a decade. The last one ran from 2012-16.

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Sierra Snowpack is Already “Wiped Out” This Year, Adding to California Drought and Fire Worries

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicle by Kellie Hwang

The Sierra Nevada snowpack, a crucial water source for California’s cities and farms, has already dwindled to next to nothing this year, adding to the state’s worsening drought situation.

The latest data from the state Department of Water Resources on Tuesday showed California’s snowpack was just 6% of normal for May 11, and 4% of the normal average for April 1. That date is typically when California’s snowpack is the deepest and has the highest snow water equivalent — the depth of water that would result if the snow melted upon falling.

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Humanity’s Challenge of the Century: Conserving Earth’s Freshwater Systems

/in , /by /Mongabay Newsby Saul Elbein

On April 11, 2020, a band of fighters stormed and seized a water control station in the Libyan Sahara. Taking employees prisoner, they occupied a key nexus that helps move 1.2 million cubic meters (317 million gallons) of water per day — 480 Olympic-sized swimming pools — from freshwater aquifers beneath the desert down to the coast. The raiders flipped a switch and at a stroke, 400 kilometers (250 miles) away, in the capital Tripoli, 2 million people’s taps went dry. One of many such attacks, this battle in the intensifying global water wars has dire portent for Libya and the world. The country’s water system had once been a crown jewel of 20th century hydraulic engineering, part of a global constellation of megaprojects that allowed cities in water-starved regions to grow into the millions.

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San Diego County Has ‘Sufficient’ Water Supplies as Drought Grips State

/in , /by /Patch.comby City News Service Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Despite a drought emergency declaration in northern and central California, the San Diego County Water Authority said Tuesday the region was well positioned to outlast drought conditions until 2045. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded a drought emergency declaration from Sonoma and Mendocino counties to 41 counties.

San Diego Spared as Newsom Declares Drought Emergency in 41 of California’s 58 Counties

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Reuters Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday issued an expanded “drought emergency proclamation” for 41 of the state’s 58 counties, citing above-average temperatures and dry conditions for April and May.

So far, Southern California has been spared the worst of the drought, and the San Diego County Water Authority has said it has supplies to withstand several dry years.

“Gov. Newsom’s latest drought emergency declaration is a grim reminder of the growing water supply challenges across California — and of the value of three decades of our collective dedication to use water efficiently combined with strategic investments that protect San Diego County from dry years,” said Gary Croucher, board chair of the water authority.

“Thanks to efforts of ratepayers, the water authority, and our 24 member agencies, we have sufficient water supplies for 2021 and the foreseeable future,” he said.

 

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Water-Use Efficiency, Investments Protect Region as Drought Impacts Spread

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

“Governor Newsom’s latest drought emergency declaration is a grim reminder of the growing water supply challenges across California – and of the value of three decades of our collective dedication to use water efficiently combined with strategic investments that protect San Diego County from dry years. Thanks to efforts of ratepayers, the Water Authority, and our 24 member agencies, we have sufficient water supplies for 2021 and the foreseeable future.

Our regional adoption of water-use efficiency measures is a major piece of our strategy, with per capita water use falling by almost half over 30 years. At the same time, the rates we pay for water have been invested in new water sources along with major dams and reservoirs that are showing their worth more with each passing day.” – Gary Croucher, Board Chair, San Diego County Water Authority

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This is How California’s Water Use Has Changed Since the Last Drought

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Yoohyun Jung

California is in a serious drought. The National Drought Mitigation Center’s drought monitor puts most of the state in extreme drought zones for the first time since 2015.

The latest instance of drought has once again put the state’s water use under the microscope to identify opportunities for conservation, a task that’s expected to become more challenging as the impacts of climate change intensify.

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Sonoma County Officials to Cut Pumping from Russian River by 20% Amid Deepening Drought

/in , , /by /Santa Rosa Press-Democratby Mary Callahan

Sonoma County supervisors are expected to offer their formal support Tuesday for a plan to pump 20% less water than normal from the Russian River for the remainder of the year, preserving dwindling supplies in local reservoirs but making less water available to more than 600,000 consumers in Sonoma and northern Marin counties.

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Newsom Extends Drought Emergency to 41 California Counties

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Faith E. Pinho

In a stark indication of California’s growing water crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday declared a drought emergency in 41 counties, including areas of the Central Valley that had urged action on behalf of agricultural growers.

Newsom’s proclamation dramatically expands the drought emergency he declared in Sonoma and Mendocino counties last month, and now covers 30% of the state’s population.

“With the reality of climate change abundantly clear in California, we’re taking urgent action to address acute water supply shortfalls in Northern and Central California while also building our water resilience to safeguard communities in the decades ahead,” Newsom said in a prepared statement. “We’re working with local officials and other partners to protect public health and safety and the environment, and call on all Californians to help meet this challenge by stepping up their efforts to save water.”

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