Thanks, Sac Bee!

We made the front page last summer, and so did a couple others. There were stories about xeriscaping intermingled with stories about the City's clumsiness regarding the issue of water conservation. Anyway, as of last Friday there are some new rules for Sactown (along with some old rules that may seem new to some):

Alternate watering days, fewer allowable hours, no water in the street, and MORE ENFORCEMENT:


http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1952941.html

New Rules for Sacramento

I just read it in the SacBee:

Water waste prohibited

No one may willingly allow water to run off their property into gutters or streets while irrigating landscaping.


Irrigation days

• Addresses ending in odd numbers: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
• Addresses ending in even numbers: Wednesday, Friday, Sunday.
• No irrigation on Mondays.

Exceptions:

• When standard time is in effect, generally November through early March, odd-number addresses may water only on Saturdays; even addresses only on Sundays.
• New landscaping may be watered daily for 21 days from the date of planting.
Irrigation times
• Banned between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day.


Washing driveways, sidewalks, parking lots: Now banned (except for health and safety reasons with prior approval).

Washing cars: Shutoff nozzle now required on hose, and washing allowed only on designated irrigation days.


Penalties

• First violation: written notice.
• Second violation: $25 fine, waived upon completion of a water conservation class.
• Third violation: $100 fine.
• Fourth and subsequent violations: $500 fine.
• Fines are doubled during a declared water shortage.

Today's News in San Diego

Monday, May 4, 2009 Coming this summer to an inland neighborhood near you: Brown lawns.

Mayor Jerry Sanders unveiled a plan Monday to designate specific lawn watering days for all residents and businesses, a step one horticulture expert said would "absolutely" cause brown and dying lawns across the city this summer. The risk would be higher farther inland.

Sanders' plan would allow residents in odd-numbered houses to water their lawns on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Even-numbered houses would be permitted to irrigate Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Businesses, condos, apartments and homeowners associations would be allowed to water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

"Today, we're poised at the beginning of a new era in San Diego's water history," Sanders said.The plan heads to City Council for consideration and possible approval Tuesday afternoon.

It comes as the city faces mandatory water cuts from its suppliers for the first time since the early 1990s.If approved, regulations would begin June 1 permitting residents to water for 10 minutes on each specified day and only between the hours of 6 p.m. and 10 a.m., when less water is lost to evaporation.

Read more...

Where's Matt Weiser?

The Sac Bee laid off a bunch of folks last week. I searched for him on their website today, and his last story was over a week ago. Hope he's still there - besides the two obvious articles, I found his subject matter generally very compelling.


...Never mind, it looks like he's tweeting from Istanbul at the World Water Forum.

Water News

Here's what I read in the paper this morning (by Matt Weiser & Jim Downing):

State water officials sent out an urgent call Friday to all Californians, urging an immediate 20 percent cut in water use to ease a drought that could be the next serious hit to California's economy. ...

Roseville ordered residents to cut use 20 percent. Commercial customers must reduce landscape irrigation 30 percent. Increased water-waste patrols will ensure compliance.

The San Juan Water District sells Folsom Lake water to neighboring Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks and Orangevale. It will soon require all customers to trim use by 20 percent.

"People should not be irrigating now," said Shauna Lorance, district general manager. "Save the water for later."

The city of Folsom will also set a mandatory 20 percent conservation target as part of a "Stage Three" water warning within the next week or two.

The city of Sacramento has among the state's most stable water supplies and has not announced any rationing steps. But a workshop on water conservation is planned for the City Council on Tuesday.

complete story

Then I read this:

It never fails, lamented David Roberts.

"Tuesday, I was driving around in that pouring rain," related the Sacramento landscaper, "and there were homes with their sprinklers on. What a waste!"

complete story

I have no comment on the above, as the caffeine hasn't kicked in, but I'd note that today is a beautiful day for gardening. I'd also note that I picked up some beautiful little pink drought resistant plants from Talini's yesterday. They seem to be fitting in quite nicely in the rockery. We'll see how much they add to the dignity and repose of our existence if we make it out of this season with no visits from the yard police. Which brings me to this third article I noticed:

The city of Sacramento could slash 429 positions, including 297 that are filled, to close a $50 million budget gap, city officials said Friday.

The layoffs - which would take place in the fiscal year starting July 1 - are among major cuts recommended by the city manager in all city departments. The cuts package will hashed out at a City Council budget workshop Tuesday night.

complete story

So On & So On

It turns out my little tale has attracted the attention of Penn & Teller. Who knew? My advisers tell me that they're probably on my side, but I dunno if I even want to go there... Doesn't look like it's going anywhere fast, though, as their people haven't got back to my people getting back to their people.

It's Been a Lawn, Lawn, Lawn Time or The Revolution Will Not Have Herbicides...

Yes, I know - it's been very quiet around the old blog lately. Busy times for us, though. The chard, cabbage, arugula, and peas are thriving. The spinach is surviving. Good eats!

Besides edibles, we managed to stop by the Native Plant Society's fall sale & picked up a couple of cool lookin' plants for the front and back. So far, so good!

We also managed to check out the Hoes Down Festival at Full Belly Farms. Tons o' fun for the whole family. Who knew that produce comes from somewhere other than the back room at Safeway (or pre-shrink wrapped from the back room at TJ's)? I know, I know. But it really is remarkable to think about the whole Hamilton v. Jefferson vision of the future. Especially over the last hundred years. The family farm used to actually belong to someone in your own family. In my own family, we sold the last two farms (one on Mom's side, one on Dad's) when I was a kid.

But back on subject here. This guy - Lawn Man to the Stars - seems to be something of a kindred spirit:

The lawn ranger

By Debbie Arrington

John Greenlee sees the making of a revolution in blades of grass. Every day, he finds inspiration in rolling lawns that waste water in millions of front yards.

It doesn't have to be this way.

"Traditional lawns are really thirsty and need lots of water," he said. "We developed this whole culture of turf grass where a good lawn equals a good citizen.

Read More...

Urban Water Conservation

Looks like the state may be stepping in to set statewide standards. From the State Water Board's website:

The State Water Board adopted the “Strategic Workplan for Activities in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary” (Bay-Delta Workplan) on July 16, 2008. Among nine elements, the Bay-Delta Workplan contains proposed actions to address water use efficiency for urban and agricultural water users. The actions include an assessment of whether to develop an urban water conservation regulatory program and, if so, what the regulatory program should be.

• Public Workshop - October 1, 2008
  A public workshop to consider information regarding the development of an urban water conservation regulatory program will be held in Sacramento on October 1, 2008. The State Water Board will accept written comments on the proposal until noon, September 23, 2008. Refer to the Public Notice and Discussion Paper for more details.
  • Public Workshop Notice
  • Discussion Paper

Fine Priorities...

Reading the following article, I was again reminded that, here in Sac-town, the City would have generated more revenue from my brown lawn than it would have from my feeding of the storm drains. As a potential fine payer, what makes more economic sense? To let the lawn go brown and face a $748 fine, or risk watering the street and face a much smaller fine?

Here's the story from San Diego:

Since November, Bill Stephens and his fellow water cops have issued more than 450 warnings and tickets to water wasters in Riverside County. They've targeted commercial, industrial and institutional customers in the Eastern Municipal Water District from Moreno Valley to Temecula. This month, Stephens started to cite residents for excessively using water. After two warnings, homeowners will be fined $100 or more. Mike Lee and Michael Gardner in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/8/08

This Must Be What They Were Going For

When I was a young and energetic twenty-something, I spent several summers guiding whitewater rafts on overnight trips through a river canyon all set about with dogwoods and cottonwillows. This Elephant's Child was not a drinker, but some of my fellow river guides were known to down a few beers on occasion. On nights we weren't working, we all bunked down in "the guide house", a non-descript little house in town. This house had a gravel garden up front (in which some neighborhood boys cleverly dug a hole and buried my solar-powered battery charger). Out back, it had a brown lawn. On a hot summer evening after downing a few of the aforementioned beverages, some of my fellow guides would make a quick trip out back "to water the lawn". For some reason, the lawn never turned green, but apparently, beer does work for this purpose.

Lead Foot

I knew there was some other reason I didn't feel good about fake lawns. I lifted this from CUWCC's website:

Potential Exposure to Lead in Artificial Turf
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an official health advisory regarding potential exposure to lead in artificial turf grass. When athletic field samples in Newark, New Jersey tested positive for high levels of lead, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry were prompted to issue this warning on June 18, 2008.

CDC Health Advisory

Following the announcement, the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) has placed its turf grass rebate program on hold. Any further decisions regarding program will be made when further clear and reliable becomes available.

SDCWA's Suspension of its Turf Grass Rebate

What's Hot? Apparently, Fake Green Lawns Are

When I was a kiddo, summers were overcast, winters were temperate, rain was abundant, and most plant life in my world was green. I thought anything over 70 was hot. Visits to the capital city were excruciating, as, among other things, we had no a/c in our car. My memories of hotter-than-70 involve melted popsicles, sticky car backseats, and a lot of pop (though I've grown to understand we properly call it soda on this coast). Since moving to the valley over a decade ago, I've learned to deal with heat by walking on the shady side of the road, drawing the blinds on a sunny day, keeping an icy beverage handy, wearing sleeveless shirts, and making good use of the ceiling fans. Now, 94 degrees is eminently doable. I've been known to pull a bike trailer carrying a 2year old in 94. 94 is a-okay. Yesterday we hit 103, though. This is significantly over the 95 cited as a limit recently by an old pal, and significantly over my threshold, as well.

This leads me to the topic of fake grass. Apparently they've got artificial lawns now that look like the real thing. Patt Morrison at the LA Times has a spin on the whole thing that hadn't even occurred to me - the heat angle. For those of us hiding from the triple digits, the thought of replacing the patch of nature (whether it be green or brown) with a patch of non-biodegradable matter that actually raises the temps around my house, well, that thought just doesn't get very far in this already heat-addled brain.

But my lingering question is this: what happens to the bird poop and the dead bugs? Do they decompose into the fake grass? Do they just build up into nastiness that requires periodic hosedowns (into the storm drains - not so great)?

Of Course, My 5 Year Old Could Have Told You That...

Matt Weiser scrutinizes the City again. The headline is "Sacramento's Approach To Water Meter System Faulty, Some Experts Say":

"Sacramento lacks a comprehensive plan and expert advice for its massive water-meter installation project, raising the risk, industry observers say, that expensive components won't be able to communicate with each other.

A draft plan for the state-mandated $400 million project contains dozens of blank sections, including the one on equipment specifications, a Bee review found, and it takes an approach not recommended by experts in the field." (my emphasis)

(more)

Poll Position

Four votes for water, one for air, and one reported to me that didn't count for dry land.

I saw something recently where the writer claimed that water was California's most important resource. I sympathize with this claim, but I have to ask the question Holly D asked lo those many years ago: how long can you go without breathing? (I voted for water, too.)

He Probably Wouldn't Like That Much, Either

When I first moved to this hot valley, stumbling through my overheated daze one evening I passed by a yard full of chaotic sunflowers. They were so lively and so significant and so flamboyant. I vowed someday, if ever I had a yard of my own, to plant some in it. Maybe not this front yard, though. Too much shade.

This Little Experiment Went in the Backyard

Sunset magazine arrives in the mail with its perfect yards and planting suggestions. I of the crazybusy year but the gardening desires flip to the part where it tells me that I can finally start planting again (once tomorrow comes). Carrots, they say. Corn is okay. Lettuce soon. Edamame! Edamame is big in our hapa house, lemme tell ya. I of the minimal gardening know how but the planting & feeding yen visit my two neighborhood seed outposts. No edamame for this mami. Will it work to plant those little guys that I liberate from the clutches of the bean eaters in my brood? I've got a whole bagful in the freezer. Will they turn into bounteous plants? I suppose time will soon tell...

The Things One Can Learn

At home with I sick child today, I've taken the opportunity to catch up on some of my reading and have come across this rather startling piece of information, courtesy of Matt Weiser, my favorite SacBee reporter (natch):

"Throughout California, urban water agencies have generally failed to make good on conservation promises made during the state's last major water fight.

No concentration of residents and businesses, however, uses as much as Sacramento: 25 percent more per capita on a daily basis than Las Vegas, and nearly 50 percent more than Los Angeles. Those cities have cut use despite massive growth."

We use more than Las Vegas? I guess we make up for all their spectacular fountains with all of our sidewalk washing (see above link)...

This is just to say...

...that I don't dislike
the green patch you keep
for your children

or your grandchildren
who frolic and gambol
(in child-like fashion) and

your neighbors who join
you once or ten times
per year for
a lawn party.



(apologies to Dr. W.)

Wild Ones

This organization looks like the Native Plant Society on a mission. They've got model ordinances, planting strategies, activism strategies - it's all there!

The New Yorker Article

My mother-in-law sent the New Yorker with the controversial cover, with a note to check out page 82. Lots of gems, including this:

"...the risks of the chemical lawn are not confined to the people who own the lawns, or the the creatures that try to live in them. Rain and irrigation carry synthetic fertilizers into streams and lakes, where the excess nutrients contribute to algae blooms that, in turn, produce aquatic 'dead zones.'"

and this:

"...the American lawn now represents a serious civic problem. That the space devoted to it continues to grow—and that more and more water and chemicals and fertilizer are devoted to its upkeep—doesn’t prove that we care so much as that we are careless."

So Tempting...

I was recently alerted to this essay by Michael Pollan, containing the following strategy:

"My father's reply could not have been more eloquent. Without a word he strode out to the garage and cranked up the rusty old Toro for the first time since fall; it's a miracle the thing started. He pushed it out to the curb and then started back across the lawn to the house, but not in a straight line: he swerved right, then left, then right again. He had cut an ''S'' in the high grass. Then he made an ''M,'' and finally a ''P.'' These are his initials, and as soon as he finished writing them he wheeled the lawn mower back to the garage, never to start it up again."

Walk'n'Roll

So here's a cool walkability site - you can see how walkable your neighborhood is. Both sets of my kids' grandparents had scores of 98. Pretty good!

TGIDLIU

At least I don't live in Utah: 70 year old woman arrested for her brown lawn

What I've Been Reading For Pleasure Lately

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Moon hiking and camping guides to California

Clearinghouse

I've recently become a clearinghouse of sorts for water conservation information.

From a source in the know:

"The state's model water efficient landscape ordinance:

http://www.owue.water.ca.gov/landscape/ord/ord.cfm

"One model is currently in place and a revision is underway.

"When Sacramento signed the CUWCC MOU, it promised to have full metering within six years of signing MOU or by 2012, whichever is later. In addition it promised to bill all metered customers using volumetric billing within one year of signing MOU. ...for the few meters already installed the city only uses volumetric billing for customers volunteering for this."


*************************


A big bouquet of native plants to the concerned citizen who brought me a goodie bag from Placer County. Said goodie bag contained all sorts of useful info about water conservation (including a caution about lawns), some stickers for the kiddies, low flow showerheads, and a spray top thingy for the hose.

And thanks to all the friends who deluged us with sprinklers & cacti recently. Happy days!

Origins

Greetings, friends. My name is Anne Hartridge, and this is my blog.

The idea for this blog came after our big media splash last week, thanks to Matt Weiser and the Sacramento Bee: Sacramento couple who let lawn die to save water face $746 fine.

Or if you saw it in print: Water savers soaked?

The buzz really surprised us, but clearly the story touched a nerve. Libertarians were the first to pick it up, then the picket fence crowd, trailed by conservationists and everyone else. According to some, I'm a hero. To others, I'm lazy. The truth is this: I'm a working mom of two little kids whose time is rarely my own until late at night when everyone else is asleep. I get a few minutes here and there for independent thought, yes. Independent action is another matter entirely.

So, in one of these moments of independent thought, I thought: what should I do with this brief moment of name recognition? Is there any way to transform this moment into an opportunity to make the world a better place? There must be.

I'm not here to sell anything. I'm not here to preach anything. I just want to share what I've seen and learned and maybe hear about what you've seen and learned. What brings you joy? What makes one moment stand out from another such that you desire more time on this planet?

For me, it's always been about the water.

I'll stop there for now.