Pure Water Oceanside has been awarded a $9.9 million grant following a recommendation by the office of U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, it was announced Tuesday.
The funding will be awarded via the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART: Title XVI WIIN Water Reclamation and Reuse Projects funding, a statement from the city read. Oceanside is one of 25 applicants named for this funding.
As the unprecedented drought continues to affect California and the San Diego region, homeowners can still balance the need to conserve water as efficiently as possible while preserving valuable landscaping, including trees. Trees can be maintained while following California’s water guidelines.
As the unprecedented drought continues to affect California and the San Diego region, homeowners can still balance the need to conserve water as efficiently as possible while preserving valuable landscaping, including trees.
Trees can be maintained while following California’s water guidelines. Trees are among the most valuable investment in San Diego County’s landscape – including your own WaterSmart landscaping. No other landscape plant offers more significant benefits to your landscape and the environment. Trees provide much-needed shade and cooling to increasingly hot neighborhoods and cities and are among the most efficient natural ways to remove harmful carbon dioxide fueling global warming.
When mature trees die due to lack of irrigation, they become a dangerous fire hazard. They are expensive to remove. Young replacement trees take many years to provide the benefits of mature trees. Taking care of your trees during drought ensures a tremendous return on this investment.
Even when not in an acute drought, trees planted in a Mediterranean climate often need some additional water. Mimic the way Mother Nature provides water for the most effective irrigation.
Healthy tree roots reach three to four feet deep at the outer edge of a tree’s branches, where rainfall would naturally run off leaves. This area at the edge of the tree canopy is called the drip line.
When it does rain, Mother Nature’s rainfall is primarily steady, slow, and spread out. Follow this method to deliver a prolonged, slow soaking. Trees prefer infrequent deep watering. During drought, slow watering every two or three weeks for more established trees is sufficient. Avoid runoff with multiple cycles to allow water to soak deeply. Irrigate early in the morning to minimize evaporation.
Keep in mind turf competes with your trees for water. Even if you want to retain some lawn, it’s smart to remove the lawn immediately around your trees and replace it with WaterSmart landscaping.
Carefully selected trees are the most valuable addition to your sustainable landscaping. Photo: Helix Water District
Drought is a reality in the San Diego region as average temperatures increase. As summer months become hotter, soils dry out. Trees must be deep watered to supply their roots and preserve their health.
San Diego forestry and landscaping professionals are working with the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies to help protect our region’s trees while also conserving water. Find more resources and learn more at drought.katestrees.org.
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(Editor’s Note: The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies offer programs, resources, and incentives to improve water-use efficiency for residential, commercial, and agricultural users. WaterSmart choices are a way of life in the region. Stay WaterSmart San Diego! For more water-use efficiency resources, go to WaterSmart.SD.org. The Helix Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
With your new WaterSmart landscaping plans complete, demolition and turf removal done, and your new irrigation system in place, it’s time to get started on the plant installation. For most homeowners, this is the most rewarding part of the process seeing your new landscaping come to life.
Step 1: Use a garden hose to outline groundcover areas to help you visualize the design before you start the installation.
Step 2: Set the plants while still in their containers, in their approximate location per your planting design plan. Take a step back and review. View your plant placements from various angles. Make any adjustments to the design now to avoid having to dig up and relocate any plants.
Be aware many drought-tolerant landscapes look sparse for the first few years. As your plants reach their mature size, they will fill in over time. Be sure to allow proper spacing to allow each plant to grow to its full size.
Step 3: Dig plant holes twice the width of the plant root ball and just deep enough to bury the roots. Water the hole before placing the plant. When planted, the top of the root ball should be even with or slightly above soil level.
Colorful, water-wise plants replaced a thirsty, labor intensive front lawn in Deborah Brant’s winning 2019 landscape makeover. Photo: Vista Irrigation District
Step 4: Once in the hole, the plant should be packed firmly into place with the original, compost-amended soil from the hole. Extra dirt can create a berm around the plant to hold water.
Step 5: Cover the planting area with a two- to three-inch-deep layer of mulch. Keep mulch a few inches away around the plant stems to prevent rot. Using mulch has many benefits. It can help suppress weeds, enrich the soils, protect plant roots from compaction, provide a finished look to your garden, and mulch conserves water.
Step 6: Monitor your garden to ensure your plants are getting adequate water. Even native plant species and drought-tolerant plants need water to get established. This can take a year. To minimize your watering needs while your plants are getting established, install your landscape in the fall months before the months of most significant rainfall in San Diego, generally December through March.
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(Editor’s Note: The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies offer programs, resources, and incentives to improve water-use efficiency for residential, commercial, and agricultural users. WaterSmart choices are a way of life in the region. Stay WaterSmart San Diego! For more water-use efficiency resources, go to WaterSmart.SD.org.)
A Chula Vista couple has been doing its parts to help save water and have been recognized b their efforts.
Homeowners Bryan and Denee Felber have earned the title “Best in District” in the Otay Water District’s 2022 WaterSmart Landscape Contest.
Annually, San Diego County water agencies host the contest to award residents for showcasing well-thought-out designs, plant selection and maintenance, and methods for efficient irrigation.
The Sweetwater Authority named Nancy Cavanah of Chula Vista its 2022 winner of the WaterSmart Landscape Contest. Cavanah was recognized at the Authority’s June Governing Board meeting.
The Cavanah’s landscape was selected from a diverse pool of applicants as the best example of how to create a beautiful landscape using less water.
Mike and Cathy Godfrey’s water-efficient landscape design is the winner of the Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s 2022 WaterSmart Landscape Contest. The Godfreys were recognized at the June OMWD Board of Directors meeting.
Before and after view of Mike and Cathy Godfrey’s award-winning landscape design at their Encinitas home. Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District
“Maximizing water efficiency outdoors is especially important as drought conditions remain in effect across the state,” said OMWD Board Director Neal Meyers. “Showcasing the diversity and beauty of California-friendly landscaping can encourage others to swap their grass for climate-appropriate designs and bring awareness to the benefits of sustainable landscaping.”
A dry creek bed captures and directs rainfall, minimizing water runoff into the streets that can carry pollutants down the storm drain and into the ocean. Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District
The Godfreys’ water-efficient landscape design at their Encinitas home displays a variety of drought-tolerant plants and succulents selected to reduce yard maintenance and watering needs. They installed a drip irrigation system that provides a low volume of water that is healthy for plants and trees while resulting in little to no evaporation.
A dry creek bed captures and directs rainfall, minimizing water runoff into the streets that can carry pollutants down the storm drain and into the ocean.
The Godfreys installed a drip irrigation system that provides a low volume of water that is healthy for plants and trees while resulting in little to no evaporation. Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District
The WaterSmart Landscape Contest is held annually by water agencies throughout San Diego County to highlight attractive landscapes that use less water than conventional turf-heavy landscapes. Winning entries exhibit excellence in curb appeal, design, appropriate plant selection, and water-efficient irrigation.
Find tips and resources on how to create a WaterSmart home and garden at www.watersmartsd.org/.
(Editor’s note: The Olivenhain Municipal Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
California is experiencing its third consecutive dry year, and while dry spells aren’t new, the current severe drought conditions call for an increase in water conservation efforts inside and outside of homes. Replacing the lawn with water smart plants is one way to take immediate water saving action and have a direct impact on the state’s ongoing drought.
A thriving, water-efficient yard in La Mesa is the winner of the Helix Water District’s 2022 WaterSmart Landscape Contest.
Homeowner Nick Voinov worked for a decade to transform his turf into its current WaterSmart residential landscape. It didn’t always look as bright and colorful as it does today.
“I love plants and found them more appealing than a lawn,” said Voinov. “I thought it was a bit of a waste because I had to water it every day, and then once you mowed it, it was hauled off to the dump. It was like a crop that you grew and then threw away.”
Every individual landscape sits in one of San Diego County’s 16 watersheds. The watershed approach to landscaping considers every garden its own mini-watershed, holding onto or cleaning the water falling on it and nurturing a diverse habitat of plants and insects.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
