California adopts strict lawn-reduction rules for drought savings

Sacramento Bee

The era of lush, green California lawns moved a dramatic step closer to ending Wednesday.

Drought tolerant plants must dominate lawns surrounding new homes and businesses across California under new regulations unanimously approved by the California Water Commission.

The new rules effectively limit the amount of turf grass around newly-constructed homes to 25 percent of landscaped area. Under prior rules, turf grass could take up about one third of landscaped area.

The restrictions will apply to all homes with more than 500 square feet of landscaped area, essentially all new detached homes in the state. Old rules only applied to homes with more than 2,500 square feet of landscaped area. California detached homes, on average, feature about 3,000 square feet of landscaping, state officials said.

The new restrictions also effectively eliminate any turf grass or other thirsty plants around new commercial and public development, with a few exceptions, state officials said.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered the California Department of Water Resources to strengthen landscaping restrictions as part of his drought executive order in April. Beginning in December, municipalities will have to adopt rules that are at least as strict as the state’s new “model ordinance.”

State officials made no apologies for the tougher regulations.

“The real driving force behind the model ordinance is to reduce the square footage of turf,” said Mark Cowin, director of the Department of Water Resources, in an interview with The Sacramento Bee.

"It's going to save so many acre-feet" of water, added Nancy Vogel, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Agency, the department’s parent.

Vogel added that businesses will have to justify their development of large swaths of grass.

"You can't really have turf because it looks pretty," she said. "You have to prove that you're using it for weddings or gatherings or whatever."

Response among developers and industry was mixed. Homebuilding executives said the industry will adapt to the new regulations.

"The industry is already adjusting to some degree in how they plant front yards," said Greg Paquin of The Gregory Group, a Folsom homebuilding consultant.

He said he visited a recently built development Wednesday in the Serrano community, in El Dorado Hills, and found very little in the way of traditional lawns. "There's no grass - it's all natural vegetation,” Paquin said. “There are alternatives that we're starting to see."

Tim Murphy, chief executive of the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange, said the proposal would add several layers of complexity to California's already regulatory heavy development environment, and some of the smaller irrigation contractors may struggle to adapt.

But he said California's increased emphasis on water savings is "the new normal."

"This will be more cumbersome," he said, "But in the long run, this will be more beneficial to our state, and we have to adapt.”

Ed Zuckerman, president of Stockton-based Delta Bluegrass Company, said the new rules would unnecessarily kill off lawns in California - and might do the same to his and other sod farmers' businesses.

In a typical year, he farms between 1,000 and 2,000 acres of sod depending on the demand.

"If you like to live in Phoenix, Arizona, with gravel in your front yard and no irrigated landscape," he said, "that's what some people would like to push."

He said that while lawns have become pariahs in the drought, they're more beneficial than they get credit for because he said they keep urban areas cool. He worries that when the drought ends, the state's landscaping ordinance will be stuck in place even if homeowners want their grass back.

"You better watch out for what you hope for," Zuckerman said. "You're going to have dust storms in cities, and heat islands in cities, like you've never seen before, and energy bills soaring."

Meanwhile, Sacramento-area residents reduced their water use by 35 percent in June, the first month of mandatory statewide conservation, compared to June 2013, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Regional Water Authority.

As the drought continues in its fourth year, the conservation figures suggest area residents are working to comply with Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order mandating 25 percent reduction in urban water use compared to 2013.

The June savings weren’t as dramatic as in May, when relatively cool weather enabled Sacramentans to reduce usage by 40 percent. Nonetheless, officials said they were impressed with the results for June, considering the hotter weather.

“While the June savings are impressive, it is critical that residents continue saving – and do even more, if possible – in July and August,” said Amy Talbot, the water authority’s water efficiency program manager, in a prepared statement. “Conserving now will help preserve our local water supplies, including Folsom Reservoir, as well as meet water conservation targets set by the state water board.”

At the Sacramento County Water Agency, water use fell by 41 percent compared to June 2013. Posting big conservation numbers during the summer is necessary if the region is going to meet mandated targets, said water agency spokeswoman Diane Margetts.

“This an excellent number but it is important to remember we need to achieve an average reduction of 32 percent,” she said. “We need to be reaching these high numbers now when the opportunity to conserve is highest – as outdoor water use is highest – because in the fall and winter outdoor water use is normally minimal so the opportunity to conserve is really reduced.”

All of the region’s largest water suppliers cut use by at least 30 percent in June compared to the same month in 2013, according to a Bee survey of district officials.

“Considering the heat and dry weather, June was a good month,” said Placer County Water Agency spokesman Ross Branch. His district’s customers cut water use by 32 percent in June.

Roseville customers cut water use by 39 percent in June. Bobby Alvarez, the city’s interim water conservation administrator, said he expects big numbers in July too. “We are trending really well,” he said. “If you drive around the neighborhoods, you can see a lot of golden brown out there.”

Statewide conservation figures for June haven’t been released yet. Urban Californians cut their water use by 29 percent in May, the last month of voluntary cutbacks.

Targets for water use cuts vary by water district under Brown’s order, with areas with historically heavy per-capita water use, like the Sacramento area, needing to conserve more. Most Sacramento water agencies have to save 28 to 36 percent compared to 2013.

Water Use Cuts in June in the region’s largest agencies (compared to June 2013)

		June Cut
City of Sacramento	475,122
California-American Water Company	201,418
Sacramento Suburban Water	174,304
Sacramento County Water Agency	162,681
El Dorado Irrigation District	128,500
Roseville	122,946
Placer County Water Agency	94,318
Citrus Heights Water District	67,333
Davis	65,783
Folsom	60,347
Woodland	56,610

Source: Bee interviews with district officials

Measur

Xeriscaping

The Old Farmer's Almanac

In many parts of the country demand for water has already exceeded the supply leading to bans on car washing and watering lawns and gardens.

The need to conserve water has made xeriscaping a popular concept in gardening. From the Greek word "xeros" meaning dry, combined with landscaping it is a commonsense approach to gardening using less water. Mother Nature can't be relied upon to supply us with the inch of water a week that most plants require. It doesn't sound like much but that 1 inch of rain equals 62 gallons of water per 100 square feet of garden space!

The practical principles of xeriscaping can be applied to any landscape, making your garden not only water-thrifty but low-maintenance as well. It doesn't have to be all cactus and rocks! You can still have a colorful, lush-looking garden that uses less water by following some simple rules of thumb.

• Mulch is an important weapon against evaporation and provides a cushion during a downpour to lessen erosion and give the rain a chance to soak in rather than running off. It will also keep weeds from competing with your plants for precious moisture.
• Use plants that thrive in dry conditions. Echinacea, salvias, penstemon, agastache, yarrow, and coreopsis are all low water perennials.

Herbs native to the hot dry Mediterranean such as sage, thyme, lavender, and artemisia are good choices.

South African imports such as gerbera, Cape marigold, osteospermum, and arctotis are used to arid conditions. Sedums and succulents hold water in their fat leaves.

Plants with fuzzy or waxy leaves are slow to transpire moisture to the dry air. Annuals are the first to wilt in the hot sun but bachelor buttons, cleome, cosmos, California poppies, calendula, portulaca, and globe amaranth will bloom reliably with less water than most annual flowers.

• Group plants with similar water requirements. Called zoning, this technique cuts work time by keeping plants with the same needs together. You can concentrate your watering efforts and give each zone what it needs. Plant the most drought-tolerant plants in your driest areas. If there are some showy, high-maintenance plants you can't live without, create an oasis for them in a high traffic area where you can enjoy them and take care of them easily.
• Use water efficiently. Water deeply when you do water, to encourage deep root growth. Wet the soil to at least six inches deep every 10 days or so. Try to water in the morning before the sun is high enough to evaporate moisture. Soaker hoses and drip irrigation use a fraction of the water used by a sprinkler and deliver the water where it is needed.
• Add lots of organic matter to your soil to improve its water retention. Well-rotted manure, leaf mould, and compost act like a sponge, helping sandy soil to hold more water without becoming soggy. It also encourages strong root growth.
• Proper grading is important if you garden on a hilly site. Slopes can be terraced to lessen erosion and prevent water from running off. Create semi-circular berms around your plants to help retain water near the base of the plants where it is need most. Dig shallow channels to divert rainwater toward thirstier plants.
• Fertilize sparingly, if at all. Accelerated plant growth increases the need for more water and fosters soft growth which is more susceptible to attack by insects and disease.
• Limit lawn space. Keeping a large expanse of grass looking green in hot dry weather is very water intensive. If you must have a lawn use native grasses or drought tolerant species.
• This brings us to gray water. Many people recycle the water from bathing or washing laundry or dishes to water their gardens. The State of California recommends using this water only on lawns, shrubs, fruit trees, and flowers but NOT on the vegetable garden. This water can contain harmful bacteria, chlorine, phsphates, and other chemicals that could hurt not only you but your plants so use it sparingly.

Using less water in the garden can be challenging at first but once we adapt to a new way of thinking it makes for a very low maintenance landscape that uses half the water of a traditional garden. Work with Mother Nature and choose plants that are compatible with your environment to design a water-thrifty garden that will not only use less of a precious resource but will also mean less work for you.

Chris Souza is Moving North

Chris Souza has accepted the "Head Pro" job at Empire Ranch Golf Club in Folsom, Ca.

He has been working there for about a month now and is very happy with his new position!

If any of you are ever in the vicinity of Empire Ranch, please drop by and say "Hi" to Chris, I'm sure he would enjoy seeing you and maybe playing some golf together!

June Update

Dear Member:

Welcome to summer.  June was nice and toasty as June's are in Fresno and only slightly warmer than normal.

Wanda Bingham turned 90 on June 29 and her birthday was celebrated by a small party on Sunday 28 at the Belmont CC.  

June's water usage was much better than last year and Fresno's targeted savings.  With half the year behind us, we are 16% better than last year and only 4% behind the target.

Click here for a larger view.

The above savings were realized even though most water days (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday), the street gutters are running with wasted water.  Please test check your sprinklers and controllers frequently.  Power outages and gardeners make adjustments we do not know about.  Most everyone is watering in the early morning hours, as we should, and may not see what is happening in our gardens and lawns.  

All savings measures are voluntary to date, but the time is coming when the State Water Resources Control Board will be force all water companies to enforce reductions and take action against water wasters.  Let's be proactive and reduce our usage voluntarily and not be targeted by the state.

Reminder...

Mainline Water Valve Locations

If you received an email last week and you know the location of your mainline water valve, please provide a complete location description which includes a capped opening at ground level, we will add your valve to the "located" list.

The board plans to hire a plumber to locate the missing valves after August 1, 2015. If you know the location of your valve, or would like to find it on your own, you have until August 1 to provide the location. Those members with valves of unknown locations will be charged a pro-rata share of the locating expense.

Businesses find ways to make every drop count

Saint Agnes Medical Center reclaims cooling tower water for irrigation 

Fresno beef processor’s patty plant reduced water use 41% 

Water parks allow ponds and picnic areas to go dry

Fresno Bee

As California’s drought drags on and water supplies get tighter, Valley businesses are finding ways to get more uses from the water they have, or just use less.

Fresno’s water parks are keeping the pools filled, but letting the grass go brown. Nurseries are using irrigation mats or electronic monitors to keep plants watered with less waste. And other businesses are finding ways to reuse the water they have.

In June, Saint Agnes Medical Center in northeast Fresno started reclaiming cooling tower water for irrigation, said facilities director Rudy Negrete.

The hospital used to send its cooling tower water to a drain. Now, the hospital diverts that water to a storage tank, where it can be used to keep the grass green and the landscape lush. And as temperatures rise, the cooling towers use more water. That means there’s more water available to irrigate landscape that’s thirstier in the heat.

Negrete said the hospital is studying other ways to conserve water as well, although he declined to give details.

“We want to be respectful to the use of the water,” Negrete said.

Cargill’s beef-processing plant in southwest Fresno gets its water from on-site wells, and all of the company’s plants treat and reuse water, said Mike Martin, director of communications at Cargill, Inc. The company has repaired leaks and acquired more water-efficient equipment to reduce water use, he said.

The plant’s water is first used for sanitation of the plant and meat, he said. The water is then treated, and methane produced during the treatment is used to heat boilers for the water.

There are two facilities at the Fresno location, one for slaughtering and butchering beef and one for producing

ground beef patties, he said. The butchering plant, which uses the bulk of water, has reduced its water consumption by 17% in the past five years, while the ground beef patty plant has reduced its water use by 41% over that time.

Island Waterpark in northwest Fresno spent about $250,000 in the off-season to prepare for the drought by installing more automated controls and fixing leaks and mechanical failures in the filtration system that treats and reuses their water, said general manager Amber Watson. The park now loses its water only to evaporation, and then only about 3% of it in a day, she said.

Other areas of the park are not as green as they used to be, as the park has cut back on its watering schedule. And park areas that don’t see much use, such as the picnic areas on the outskirts or the golf course, are no longer watered at all, she said.

“Still nice enough to lounge on, but they’re not as green as they’ve been in the past,” Watson said.

Wild Water Adventure Park east of Clovis has also chosen fringe areas to not water, in addition to other tactics such as installing low-flow toilets, said general manager Bob Martin.

The park is not just letting grass go dry but the ponds as well, allowing two to empty and keeping the third minimally filled, he said. The fish will have to be relocated at some point, he added.

At Red Carpet Car Wash, all but one of the company’s locations have a system for recycling water, vice president Michael Bowie said. And its location at Bullard Avenue and First Street is working on a system for treating wastewater, making it fit for reuse.

The company also started two years ago to use highly pressured water for washes. It’s like taking a gushing hose with a tiny hole, building up pressure to create a big spray of mist rather than a torrent, reducing water consumption, he said.

Some locations use under 20 gallons per car, he said. The average person uses about 50 gallons to wash their car at home, he added.

Nurseries, whose business depends on keeping plants alive no matter how severe the drought, have also found ways to make water stretch.

Scott Miller, owner of Gazebo Gardens in central Fresno, said his nursery and landscaping business is educating the public. Most of the questions on Gazebo Gardens’ radio show, “Valley Grown Radio,” are about drought-related issues.

Gazebo Gardens uses an irrigation controller with a built-in cellphone, so it can call the weather station and adjust irrigation depending on the day’s weather. When the company started using it five years ago it was crazy, but now it’s going mainstream, he said.

There’s also a lot of watering done by hand to avoid sprinkler runoff, such as at Gazebo Gardens’ client River Park, Miller said.

Jon Reelhorn, owner of Belmont Nursery just east of Fresno, said that with 30 acres of trees, shrubs and perennials growing, it’s important to conserve water.

The nursery uses capillary irrigation mats that work like sponges, he said. The plants are placed on top of the mat, which catches water that misses the containers and soaks it up, and the plants soak up the captured water. This reduces watering by about 80%.

The nursery also uses drip irrigation instead of overhead irrigation, which is like putting a little hose in the pot, Reelhorn said.

Belmont Nursery looks to not just conserve water with its practices but to educate customers on how to save water as well, he said. They offer customers drought-tolerant plants such as rosemary and teach tricks such as putting mulch on top of the soil to prevent evaporation.

“What we do at the nursery here, by growing and selling plants, we improve your quality of life,” Reelhorn said. “When you think of what the city would be, what the environment would be if we didn’t have trees and shrubs and flowers ... the message is we can still do that and save water.”

Mainline Water Valves

Dear Member:


It is important to both you and Belmont Water Corporation to know the exact location of the main shut off valve for each home. Belmont Water Corporation needs the location to plan for future upgrades, repairs and meters. You, the homeowner, need to know in the location in the event of a break in the line in or leading up to your home. Over the years, as problems arose, the locations of some of these valves were discovered by the homeowner.

We have no complete records or maps of the location of the main shut off valve for each of the homes in the association.


Yesterday, a committee of the board of directors attempted, unsuccessfully, to use pipe locating equipment to locate the valves on the Sanders Court side. We did find the location of 17 of the 40 valves in the system, each with a covered opening at ground level height. The valves were generally placed near the center of the front property line and in from the curb several inches to almost three feet, although that was not true in all cases. There were seven homes with W or X marked on the curb, but the actual valve location is still not known. We did not look for valves on the northwest homes.


Locating the remaining valves will require professional expertise. If you know where your valve is and can provide a complete location description which includes a capped opening at ground level, we will add your valve to the "located" list. The board plans to hire a plumber to locate the missing valves after August 1, 2015. If you know the location of your valve, or would like to find it on your own, you have until August 1 to provide the location. Those members with valves of unknown locations will be charged a pro-rata share of the locating expense.Thank you for your assistance.

Despite drought, some Valley cities still lack water meters

Fresno Bee

Thousands of homes, businesses and apartments in the drought-stricken central San Joaquin Valley lack water meters, complicating efforts by city officials to reduce consumption as mandated by the state.

“How do you tell who’s using too much water?” asked Kerman public works director Ken Moore.

Fresno and Visalia are fully metered, but many smaller cities still have large numbers of unmetered connections.

While Kerman, Chowchilla, Selma, Madera and Kingsburg have launched programs to get as many connections metered as possible, other towns are stymied by the high cost.

By state law, all urban water hookups in California must be metered by 2025, and the drought is prompting some communities to speed up their programs.

In Selma, California Water Service installed 1,000 meters this year and had planned to delay installing the remaining meters until next year.

“Due to drought, however, we now plan to install 500 more this year and the remaining 1,000 by the end of 2016,” said Cal Water spokeswoman Yvonne Kingman.

Valley cities must reduce consumption by 28% to 36% under State Water Resources Control Board drought mandates.

Selma, for instance, must conserve by 32%.

Meters are a proven weapon in the battle against the drought.

In Fresno, overall per capita use dropped 22% after meters were installed between 2009 and 2014, and per capita household water use dropped even more.

In Visalia, household water use fell by 17% after meters went in, California Water Service said.

Kerman, where 39% of water connections lack meters, must reduce water consumption by 32%.

Starting next spring or possibly as early as this fall, Kerman will install meters on half of its unmetered connections. A Proposition 84 grant of $724,934 and matching city funds are paying for the $1 million project.

Unlike in some cities that have launched water meter installation projects, residential bills in Kerman won’t get a surcharge, because water division reserves are covering the city’s share.

We need to reduce 32%. It’ll be difficult to hit, especially when we’re not fully metered.

Ken Moore, Kerman public works director

Last year, Kingsburg in southern Fresno County installed 1,400 meters and has only 81 connections to finish the job later this year, City Manager Alex Henderson said.

“Metering was the responsible thing to do in light of the drought and our future water use,” and in meeting the 2025 deadline, he said.

Kingsburg must cut water use by 36%.

The water division borrowed about $1.2 million for the meter installation project. Homeowners can pay in full for the meter — $500 to $1,200, depending on the amount of work needed to install it — or put it on the monthly water bill for five years at $6 to $14 a month.

Madera, which must cut water use by 28% under the state mandate, is nearing the end of a multi-year program to get all homes metered.

About 12,000 meters were installed in the past three or four years, with about 105 residential connections still to go, the city said.

“We’re getting very close,” said city engineer Keith Helmuth.

The remaining connections are in gated communities for which the city must obtain written permission from the property owner due to lack of public right of way, he said.

The city issued a bond to pay for the installation, and increases on the residential water bill will repay the bond. It costs about $950 per meter on a 1-inch pipe, he said.

Madera has observed that after the meter goes in, consumption falls dramatically, but then tends to go back up, Helmuth said.

This may be because water rates are not tiered, he said. The city staff is requesting a rate adjustment that includes tiered rates, which is expected to encourage conservation.

In Chowchilla next month, officials will begin installing 400 meters out of 1,500 that are coming to the city.

The city borrowed $3.2 million from the state, and affected water bills will go up $6.51 a month, said Craig Locke, public works director.

The city welcomes metering to help cut consumption in the drought, but there are other reasons to want meters, Locke said.

“There’s the conservation end, but one of the biggest reasons is, we can figure out how much unaccounted loss we have,” because modern meters can detect evidence of leaks, he said.

Unlike cities that are installing meters, Corcoran, which is 50% unmetered, has no plans to install them — despite the pressures of drought — because of the costs.

“The council hasn’t felt the need to put a burden on the ratepayer,” said Corcoran City Manager Kindon Meik.

Corcoran water bills are already higher than in other cities due to the cost of paying the debt on a water treatment plant that removes arsenic and nitrates, he said.

But the city is looking into the possibility of obtaining a state grant, he said.

Meanwhile, Corcoran expects that tightened water use restrictions — it recently adopted twice-a-week lawn watering — and public cooperation will allow it to achieve the 36% water use reduction set by the state.

Hanford, which must cut water use by 28% and has about 2,500 unmetered connections and no program to get them metered, will also seek state grants, said public works director Lou Camarra.

Clovis has fewer than 500 unmetered connections, and all are in the Tarpey Village county island, said Lisa Koehn, assistant public utilities director. The city will install a meter if the customer requests one; the cost is a discounted $680 and is paid by the customer.

The city lowers the price from about $1,000 “to encourage them to get the meters,” she said.

For now, the city has no plans to install the meters and will wait until closer to 2025 to remind unmetered customers about the deadline, she said.

Unincorporated areas — such as London, East Orosi and Sultana in Tulare County — are often unmetered, but getting the funding to install meters is proving to be a challenge, said Paul Boyer, a community development specialist at Self-Help Enterprises, which helps poorer communities build water systems.

“We’ve been trying to get funding, but have been striking out,” he said. “Our water is relatively cheap compared to other parts of the state. If you do a cost-benefit analysis, it makes it hard for the Valley to compete for those funds.”

Cities with unmetered connections:

CITIES WITH UNMETERED CONNECTIONS

City	Number of connections	Number of unmetered connections	Percent unmetered
Selma (Calif. Water Service)	6,542	1,500	23%
Madera	13,565	1,320	10%
Clovis	31,662	432	1%
Kingsburg	3,243	81	2%
Corcoran	3,303	1,637	50%
Hanford	16,972	2,506	15%
Chowchilla	3,824	1,487	39%
Porterville	15,576	480	3%
Kerman	3,394	1,333	39%

Source: Valley cities