In Los Angeles, water officials are finally limiting lawn watering and that's upsetting some people with very green lawns. In fact, some SoCal residents are now saying that maybe the state should build some dams if they can't keep their lawns green.
It's one thing to have the west side of the San Joaquin Valley dry up, leaving some of the poorest Californians out of work and ag production in shambles. But don't mess with Los Angeles lawns.
The Los Angeles City Council passed new rules this week limiting automatic sprinkling, and increasing water rates because of the drought. Click here for the Los Angeles Times story on the water action in L.A.
I believe there have always been Californians who happen to live in the southern part of the state who enjoy having green lawns and have never opposed to the building of dams. Now the story that has always been there, overlooked by all the great writers of that area is about to be written. I can't help but recall the Boren/McEwen photo op over the water fountain every time this subject is presented here. I could go on about how alot of water is wasted for arts sake but I'm waiting for the story to be presented first so we can respond according to the natural order of things important.
Restricting use of automated watering systems is long overdue in L.A. and due in Fresno.
If there really is a drought going on, then all non-essential water use - watering lawns, fountains, etc., - shouldn't just be limited, it should be stopped entirely.
I know people like to say that the water in public fountains is recycled, but how much is lost to evaporation?
I live in the mountains and got 40" of rain this year. That doesn't mean that we can just go crazy with watering. If the grass withers and dies in the high heat of summer, then so be it.
Water is much too precious to be wasted. That's something those who live in Southern California just don't seem to grasp.
All automated sprinkers should be turned off. It amazes me to see sprinklers running during the winter, even when it's raining,
Water storage in the Valley should be IN the Valley. How many more rivers do we want to ruin..how many habitats innundated...how much of natures most precious places can we drown.
We can provide farmers with adequate water, if we just stop being selfish. And it's not "Fish vs. People"; there is a billion dollar fishing industry on the central/north coast in shambles. Those are people...those are families. Let's not be so myopic.
It never ceases to amaze me that hotels in Southern California, maybe everywhere in California, don't have shower nozzle restrictors, and public lavatory style automatic shutoffs on sink taps. For those that haven't used a shower restrictor, what you lose in volume, you get back in water velocity. Every little bit...
An interesting AP article with a dateline from Fresno describes how the federal government is paying big Westside farmers to grow water-thirsty crops with subsidized water in a desert. The story was picked up by news outlets all over the country, but not by our local paper. All the Westlands Bee gives us is "more water! We need more water!"
Here's an idea - why not take some of the money you want to spend on more dams and use it to train farmworkers to install solar panels and other well-paying jobs, and support their families in the interim? It would do a lot more good for them and save us a ton of money in the process.
Link to the news article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30215596/
LA in the spotlight? We have the same ignorant attitude right here in Fresno. We are equally indulgent and wasteful with our precious water resource. Fresno's idea of being "green" is keeping our lawns and landscape lush while our farmers cry-out for help and then are forced to abandon productive land.
Hundreds of gallons of gutter water flow past my home every week from my "entitled" neighbors who refuse to curtail water use. Sprinklers are going off 24/7 around my neighborhood. I consistently call the 621-5480 number and report violators.
Some of the interesting feedback I've received from my neighbors has been [and I quote]:
"I'm entitled to use as much water as I want."
"Until the city decides to install a water-meter at my house, I'm going to use as much as I want."
"Mind your own !@#$%! business. It's my yard, my water and none of your concern!"
If you'll excuse me I need to get back outside and continue to add drip irrigation to my thirsty yard.
Mike, I'm just starting on my second glass of fresh grapefruit juice thinking about how to answer this garbage you are piling on hard working people. I've been thinking for some time now about why a student of geology would be so interested in destroying a rural economy, and now what creepy little incentive anyone educated in Sacramento would have in encouraging farmers to become solar panel installers. I can't help but wonder how much easier it would be to build a high speed rail through the San Joaquin Valley, and how many options it would create if farming here were to become extinct. At the same time, it has become more obvious than ever that the Obama administration is exercising little interest in the issue. I don't know why this keeps popping into my head but it does. I'm working on some other dots too, but these are the most obvious to me at this point. If I'm missing any that need connecting please help me.
P.S. My gums are fine, thank you.
By the way Ed if you need any more of those showerhead restriction filters I've got about four you can have.
Keep on drinking that grapefruit juice, Bart. Maybe all the vitamins will stimulute your brain and help you think up some logical response to my reasonable suggestion.
I for one want the farmers to have water so they can keepl growing the yummy fruits and veggies. We won't be able to afford to buy them if they are shipped in from elsewhere. The politicians have their own agendas that have nothing to do with us. Someone needs to go up there with the jaws of life to remove their heads from their butts.
Bart, I'm having a little difficulty seeing past the verbiage. Does this mean you believe we have unlimited water? That we should not consider employment options for people out of work due to drought, manmade or natural? The high speed rail thing, where does that fit with the water issue. Sometimes, it just doesn't make sense to keep doing what we used to do... Rebuilding in flood plains, farming salt laden soils, etc... When resources get tight, things have to change.
How typical of California--we must have our green lawns. Such is the reason that democracy is dangerous.
I called Fresno City hall water division because I have a pet peeve thought. Why do we have alternate water days.. T,TH,SAT and W,FRI,SUN and NO WATERING ON MONDAY. Now wouldn't you think they would have watering on M,W,Fri and T,TH,SAT and get this NO WATERING ON SUNDAY. Doesn't that just make sense on the way we do most things?? Oh, I just remembered, there go those Christians again, even fussy about watering.
This lawn story is another non-starting distraction. It has limited connection with the most important aspect of the water issue. The aquaduct has water that flows north to south 24/7. Until more storage is available from the Sierra watershed then the State of California should be distributing water along that aquaduct now. Speaking of verbage, you can take all your EDD theory and policy-wonkiness to a Sierra Club meeting. It is quite clear to us anyway that you oppose agriculture as the dominant business in this valley. We are not interested in that view and are determined to support agriculture with as much water as it needs to sustain the economy.
Mike D., you touch on a point that I have been thinking about for weeks. Not just in relation to the west side farmers but to the bail out programs as well. Less than 100 years ago, when droughts affected farmers they adapted. After the drought ended some returned to farming others did not. People changed as life’s circumstances changed; you did what you had to do. Now when a car dealership, a newspaper, and insurance company risks failure there is an attitude that the status quo must be saved. Maybe it just means it’s time has come and it should be replaced by someone who can do it better or differently or find a new solutions and industries. There is this attitude that this is my job and I must have this job or nothing. Where does this pervasive mentality come from in such a short time in our history? Why are we bailing out when we should be adapting? Have Americans gotten soft? Aren’t hardship and change the “mothers” of invention, innovation and ultimately pride?
So Mike D., you are right, it may be time for them to adapt. The alternative, as I have discussed in previous blogs, is the over-pumping of an already stressed delta. The loss of land and crops for delta farmers and risk for our drinking water supply from salt water intrusion, losses of livelihoods and sustainable populations for the fishing industry, etc., etc. All because one group of people, unfortunate enough to be farming on the ultra dry west side, are hit hardest by this drought and apparently are resistant to adapting. Food production is continuing here and all over the United States. It is suffering from a drought and the west side is suffering the most. That is the reality of it. Let’s adapt.
It's kind of interesting that Fresno seems to be looking down our noses at Los Angeles. Seems like they took the first step in helping to free up water for farmers by their new rules. They might be complaining but at least they are doing it. All we've done is chant "people before fish". Before we bully L.A., Fresno might want to remember that during our last drought L.A. did stop watering their landscape altogether. I remember news flicks on how they were adapting by painting their lawns green and putting in drought tolerant and desert plants. Some places really looked amazing. Meanwhile, Fresnans were still watering our lawns complaining about water meters. Feels like de ja vous (spelling?) to me.
Now the issue could have been avoided if city planners stopped the ungodly growth of L.A. in such a barren, waterless, desert place in the first place. However, Central California wouldn't be chanting about fish if we hadn't allowed fertile delta farm land to be covered in endless housing tracks forcing farmlands to the less fertile, less sustainable desert areas; much of which has happened in the last ten years. We, the citizens of both these areas, let it happen and we are reaping what we've sown.
P.S. Cactus produce beautiful flowers, do double duty as security barriers under windows and some are edible. Ask a landscaper for details.
Jackie... "jaws of life".. HA, HA, heh heh Ha.. you just brought a good hearty laugh into my difficult day. Thank you.
i do not have automatic sprinklers. am i supposed to go out at nite to move the hose around? i don`t think so. i wonder what will be the fine if rule is broken, i have always tried to follow the correct time and days.
I’m so cynical… For many years, yes I’m old, we have been forced to “save” water only to see housing and city developers buy water rights and build more houses, thus contributing to the very problem they started! My water bill has gone from about $8 per month for unlimited supply [yes there once was such a thing] to $30 for a very limited amount of gallons. While I saved, mostly to avoid expensive over use penalties, LA Developers came into the Millerton Lake area, bought up a lot of cheap pasture lands to build on and then bought water rights from the Tulare Lake Basin area. Will the water be used to: Farm? Save fish? Clean up the Delta? Clean up the San Joaquin? No, the water is now own by developers to build more houses. Where do you think the Brighton Crest Golf course and the Millerton New Town got their water? They bought water rights from the farmers, mostly from Friant District. I did hear, maybe just a rumor, that the president of the Madera Water District had a lifetime golf membership thrown in. Most of this happened many years ago yet nothing has changed. So please pardon me if I don’t believe that conserving water now by anyone will solve the problem. The more water we save, the more will be used to contribute to the problem, not fix it. How to fix it? Stop building. Change California’s economy base to one of sustainability, not uncontrolled growth. Control our population by reducing the magnets of welfare and free services. Lower our taxes so that the fools in Sacramento do not have the money to spend and change the rules so the fools cannot put it all on a Visa that my grandkids will have to pay. Give the water to farmers so that our economy grows via production within the environment, not destruction of the environment. Give it to the fish so that the very place we live is protected and beautiful. Keep the water from special interest developers and stop asking me to save.
S. Roberts - that is very interesting and timely information. Isn't it curious that farmers are selling some of their water "entitlements" to developers, while at the same time demanding that the taxpayers spend billions of dollars to provide more water storage? For what - so that they will have more water "entitlements" to sell at a tidy profit?
Do you think there's any chance the Bee might explore this topic a bit? No, I don't think so, either.