35. The Ongoing Drought

We have survived a third very dry summer here in California, and as the days get shorter and cooler, it is easy to forget that the drought continues, with record breaking dryness.  There has been plenty about it in the news, and I think the drought monitoring map from the National Drought Mitigation Center sums it up pretty well:  82% of the state is in an “Extreme Drought”, with 58% of that being in the even worse category of “Exceptional Drought”.  It seems likely to stretch into next summer, so our mind set should continue to be towards conservation, with garden water use being one of the biggest conservation opportunities for the homeowner.  Let’s look at some of what’s been happening and what that means for the home gardener.

State and Local Conservation Rules

Since the beginning of this year, as the winter rains failed to provide much moisture, various voluntary and mandatory water use rules have been put in place, varying according to the local water supplier.   In the greater San Francisco Bay Area there are many different water districts with different sources for their drinking water supply, so the exact rules vary.  For example, the area served by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District has had a better reserve of water than the south bay’s Santa Clara Valley Water District, with the former asking only for voluntary reductions while the latter required a mandatory 20% reduction starting in February.  Its interesting to see how variable the restrictions were earlier this year - take a look at the chart on the right.

By July this year, things were looking more serious, and at the end of that month the State passed laws that officially restrict certain water-wasting activities by individuals and asking the various water districts to implement more water conserving measures.  Here in the East Bay our water supplier EBMUD has not asked for a specific percentage reduction, just that outdoor watering be limited to twice a week, and a few other good practices listed on this page that came with our water bill.

To me these are a little too vague and I think there should be more done to require water conservation.  In the world of landscape design, I think it is important to design for continued water scarcity, and always checking the water use of a proposed landscape design to see if it conforms to the State’s Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, which I've gotten into previously.  At this point many of the projects I work on are not required to conform to this Ordinance because they have a square footage below what triggers the law, but I still do my best to inform my clients of the water use of the design and steer them towards drought tolerant plantings. 

Groundwater

Many new homes are being built outside of city boundaries and can’t possibly connect to public water piping, so they rely on wells for their water.  Underground there are aquifers where water collects after seeping through the ground and wells tap into this source.  You can visualize that a few widespread wells taking moderate amounts of water from underground is not a big deal, but as more and more wells take increasing amounts of water out, problems develop.  For one thing, the aquifers are recharged by rainwater, so their supply is also limited in dry years.  And in the Central Valley they are seeing the ground actually sink above some aquifers, literally changing the surface landscape, not a good sign.  Because of this the State has just passed new regulations (in mid-September) that will begin the process of monitoring groundwater use in California, so there is some progress in that area, but this is a bigger topic that I won’t be able to cover very well here.

Urban versus Agricultural

I have read of urban water users – such as the home gardener – complaining that it is not fair to let sports fields or home vegetable gardens die when farmers are still growing high water use crops.  And farmers pointing the finger at water left in rivers for fish habitat and other environmental purposes.  The non-partisan Public Policy Institute says that “Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental, 40% agricultural, and 10% urban”.  So as a pure percentage, urban water use seems small, but it is also important to realize that we rely on the products of that agricultural water use for our food, with the Central Valley being “one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world.”  I did read recently that Almond trees are being planted in huge numbers, nearly 800,000 acres, double what there was 20 years ago.  Almond trees need a lot more water than seasonal crops like corn, and it takes years of regular watering to get trees that produce, with no option to stop watering without losing that investment.  I think overall there are better choices that both farmers and home owners can make to save water, we all need to do everything we can to help.

Urban Water Use

In the typical house in an urban area, there is the indoor water use for things like showers and laundry, and outdoor water use for the garden.  Studies in California say that the outdoor water use can make up anywhere from 20% to 80% of the total, with a state average of 53%.  This means that saving water in the garden is a big part of what you can do at home.  I’ve already described in separate articles ways to reduce your Irrigation Water Use, and the how to maximize your Irrigation Efficiency, so be sure to consider what you can do along those lines.  Its also a great time to consider using your home grey water and collection of rainwater for irrigation.  Normally I argue that rainwater collection can only go so far in a climate with a completely dry summer, but if we continue to have dry winters with intermittent showers, rain water collection becomes more valuable.

The water supply is big money and big politics in California and I have intentionally avoiding getting too much into those aspects here, but it is important for all of us to consider all the ways we can save water.  I do encourage you to read up on all the different water issues of the west and be an informed water user!

References:

United States Drought Monitor - National Drought Mitigation Center:https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

United States Seasonal Drought Outlook from the National Weather Service:  http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/sdo_summary.html

East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) – Water Smart Center:  https://www.ebmud.com/water-and-wastewater/watersmart-center

Bay Area Drought Relief Program, 2014 Drought Grant Application, by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)  http://resilience.abag.ca.gov/drought/

Run Dry, by Bill Marken, article in Landscape Architecture Magazine, September 2014

From Breadbasket to Wasteland, by Alan Heathcock, reprinted article in The Week, October 17, 2014.  Excerpted from Matter, an online magazine published by Medium.com

KQED blogs on the drought (no longer found online):

9-17-14 What to Know about California's New Groundwater Law

6-15-14 Oddsmaking on a Fourth Drought Year for California

Public Policy Institute publication on water use:  http://ppic.org/content/pubs/jtf/JTF_WaterUseJTF.pdf

California Single Family Water Use Efficiency Study, sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources, June 2011:http://www.irwd.com/images/pdf/save-water/CaSingleFamilyWaterUseEfficiencyStudyJune2011.pdf