Make no mistake, we brought this on ourselves! We in Southern California have grown a vast empire of citizens in a barren desert. Those farmers mid-state who love to blame all our water issues on the Real Lawns of LA are just as much to blame, planting water thirsty crops in an area that does not have the annual average precipitation to sustain them.
Breaking News - we have no water. So what are we going to do about it?
I previously posted here and here about the major initiatives California is trying to push through in this time of vast uneasiness about the future of water in our state. CA Assemblyman Roger Dickinson was recently quoted by the LA Times saying," This falls under the category of: Never let a crisis go to waste." We are finally getting major agricultural interests together with Sacramento policymakers, local utilities, and environmentalists to push through, or at the VERY LEAST negotiate and brainstorm ideas that can improve our water situation.
One topic on the table today is groundwater management and regulation. Since the Gold Rush days of California, groundwater has been a right of the property owner. This means big agricultural interests mid-state can dig wells on their acres of farmland and use it to their desire to supplement the surface water they are getting from the aqueduct and, of course, rain. This becomes a problem when a drought such as this comes along and groundwater becomes the major source of fresh water for people. We have done a horrendous job at recapturing rain water for use. We have so many non-permeable surfaces in SoCal that the water goes into the gutter and out to sea, never to be used by our population or retained back into our groundwater reserves. Bad news!
Ok, local focus. What can we do? Obviously the homeowner's among us can cut back on landscape water. We can do all the little normal things that really do add up - turn the water off while brushing your teeth and shaving, take shorter showers, load the dishwasher and clothes washer to max fill before cycling, install low flow or dual flush toilets for maximum efficiency.
Ok, a step further. Install gutters if you don't have them, and make sure the downspouts end in rain barrels or rain gardens where the water is either used by you later in your garden or can be soaked back into the earth replenishing our groundwater supplies. If the water goes to the gutter, it is lost forever.
Take out the grass. It is as simple as that. Personally I LOVE the look of a green lawn but I cannot stomach the sight of my sprinklers on anymore. It literally hurts to watch. So I made a compromise with myself, I will replace my backyard with natural landscaping and permeable surfaces and use the rain barrels to collect the water to use in the front yard. Obviously I won't collect enough to water the lawn, but it should be enough to water the local plants I have used around the edges, and those small compromises (which in my case should cut back approx 60% of my total water usage and more than 85% of my outdoor water usage) made by all of us WILL have an impact. I am going with all permeable stone and surface area in the replacement backyard so that I can capture as much of our minuscule rainfall as possible.
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| Not actual photos of my yard, but aren't they pretty?!? You get the idea... |
People of Los Angeles and California in general, we are looking at another warm dry winter. Great for tourism, TERRIBLE for us residents who will live here through the worst drought our state has seen in recorded history. We all need to pitch in, we all need to help. LADWP announced they are going to start warning and then fining water wasters $500/citation for watering on non-designated days, for washing your car in your driveway, for having sprinklers that point to the street instead of planters, and any other wasteful uses of water. This is serious stuff and we all need to do our part.
Would love your ideas and your thoughts on the best way to conserve, store, save, and recycle water in this time of need!
Cheers
TJ Franco
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