LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP | A SPOTLIGHT PREMIUM EDITION
DROUGHT SPECIAL REPORT
A CRISIS FOR CALIFORNIA Your guide to using less water at home
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The Drought 2014 | 1
Customers are the Solution To Drought in California The Cucamonga Valley Water District is committed to ensuring that the families and businesses of this community have the reliable water supply they need to thrive. CVWD customers depend on this precious resource, whether California is experiencing a wet year or a dry year. The drought is a reminder that protecting water resources is the right thing to do, but we must think beyond the drought and partner with our customers if we are to make meaningful changes to our relationship with water. California is in the midst of one of its driest periods in recorded history, with more than 80 percent of the state experiencing either extreme or exceptional drought. Reservoirs throughout the state are at or below 50 percent of their historical average; it is difficult to predict when the dry conditions will end.
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Advanced planning and hard work have enabled CVWD to meet all customer demands this year. The District has replenished local groundwater basins in wet years; invested in a recycled water program that delivers more than one million gallons each day to landscape and industrial customers; and developed additional storage capacity to protect against drought. CVWD customers have taken matters into your own hands by taking advantage of water conservation classes and rebates, reducing water use year over year. Your partnership has helped the District achieve a nearly 20 percent reduction in water use over the last seven years, even as the population continues to grow. Saving water is simple and often requires very little lifestyle change. This is particularly true outside the home, where Southern Californians use 60 percent of their water. The conservation page of the District’s website, cvwdwater. com, offers programs, rebates, and tips for wise water use inside and outside the home. CVWD’s customer service staff is available to provide guidance and answer your questions. They can be reached at (909) 944-6000. The drought is a serious challenge with impacts felt throughout California. By reminding us of the importance of water and challenging us to work together to change how we use water, it may be the event that ushers our region– and our state–into a more sustainable future. Thank you for being a part of the solution.
2 | The Drought 2014
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The Drought 2014 | 3
California’s water crisis This Special Report is the first of our Spotlight Premium Editions featuring journalism dedicated to focused and expanded coverage of local topics that matter in the lives of our readers. It will help you understand the drought in Southern California and how it will impact your daily life, providing context for the ecological and economic reality the drought brings. We also offer real solutions so you can contribute to meeting the challenges of this crisis. For ongoing coverage online, we’ve also launched the companion website, CAdrought.com, the state’s single-most comprehensive source of drought news and information. Californians are resilient, and we’re creative. We must dramatically change the way we live to preserve a sustainable California for future generations.
RACHEL LUNA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
CONTENTS
How the drought affects you ..............................................................................6 Across California, everywhere it’s parched ................................................... 14 Where water comes from ................................................................................. 18 The long-term effects of a prolonged drought .......................................... 34 Visual history of L.A.’s water grab 100 years ago....................................... 30 Drought-resistant gardens .............................................................................. 44 How much water you use a year ......................................................................36 Homeowners find new ways to save water ..................................................41 Watering restrictions and rebates ..................................................................22 Impacts on businesses ......................................................................................24 Tips for watering your lawn ...............................................................................39 4 | The Drought 2014
Publisher/President: Ron Hasse VP of News & Executive Editor: Michael A. Anastasi Senior Editors: Carolina Garcia, Brian Harr, Don Sproul Contributing Editor: Harrison Sheppard Copy Editors: Jerry Rice, Denise Swibold Designer: Steve Ohnersorgen Writers: Susan Abram, Dana Bartholomew, Sandra Barrera, Donna Littlejohn, Mike Reicher, Steve Scauzillo Photographers: Gene Blevins, Thomas R. Cordova, Keith Durflinger, Hans Gutknecht, Andy Holzman, Will Lester, Rachel Luna, John McCoy, Dean Musgrove, Brittany Murray, Watchara Phomicinda, Scott Varley Graphic Artist: Paul Penzella On the cover: The cracked earth is shown in July near where the Lake Mead Marina once was. GETTY IMAGES
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The Drought 2014 | 5
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Critical conditions Parched fields, scorched earth — and there’s no relief in sight By Dana Bartholomew Cars collect dirt, streets fade to scruff, lawns die for lack of upkeep while trees and gardens wither under a rainless sky. Cities across Southern California turn more brown by the day. And across the once-shiny Golden State, water reservoirs run low, wells bleed dry, farm fields lie fallow. Wildfires rage. Wildlife struggles. Overhead, the watery heavens seem to have snapped their spigots. Welcome to California Drought 4.0 — the fourth year of record low rain and snow. Where most of the year has been hottest on record. Where the past three years have ushered in the lowest rainfall in 119 years of weather tallies. Where a 15-year drought across the West is considered the worst such dry spell since the Middle Ages. And where weather forecasters predict higher-than-normal temperatures through spring. And lower than expected chances of any El Niño rain relief. The entire state is now in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with more than half suffering “exceptional drought,” the driest level. As a result, scant snow has CRITICAL » PAGE 10
WHEN IS WATER SHORTAGE A DROUGHT? What is a drought? There is no precise, universally accepted definition of what constitutes a drought, but it is generally seen as a prolonged period of below-average rainfall that affects people, agriculture or the environment. Calilfornia is experiencing all three. In Los Angeles, for example, the area gets an average 15 inches of rainfall per year, but during the past three years, rainfall has ranged between 5 and 9 inches per year. Nearly the entire state (95.4 percent) now falls into the three worst categories of drought: severe, extreme and exceptional, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. — Steve Scauzillo
Workers on a floating dock survey the San Gabriel Reservoir in February. The water level when the reservoir is full can rise several hundred feet higher. WATCHARA PHOMICINDA STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
BEYOND LOW
Below left: The Seven Oaks Dam, located across the Santa Ana River near Highland, is seen in January. Below middle: Boaters launch their craft hundreds of yards away from designated boat ramps at Folsom Lake in August. Main photo: Receding water levels have exposed the pump house at Castaic Lake, just north of Santa Clarita.
STAFF FILE PHOTO
MAIN PHOTO BY HANS GUTKNECHT — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
JULY 2011 The drought is captured in these two images (here and below) of Enterprise Bridge as it stretches across a section of Lake Oroville, which is about 80 miles north of Sacramento. GETTY IMAGES
AUGUST 2014
GETTY IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
■ Abnormally dry ■ Moderate ■ Severe ■ Extreme ■ Exceptional
DECEMBER
2012
MARCH
JUNE
2013
2013
THE DROUGHT OVER TIME
— Bill Patzert, climatologist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge
10 | The Drought 2014
2013
Above is a look at how California’s drought has worsened and spread in less than two years.
CRITICAL » FROM PAGE 6
“We’re so desperate for rain, we should change the state motto to Fiat Pluvia — show me rain.”
SEPTEMBER
stuck to the high Sierra Nevada, the state’s main water source. Water levels in the state’s three largest reservoirs have fallen to less than a third of capacity, while the state reservoir levels have dropped to less than two-thirds the historic average. Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir which helps quench the thirst of three states, including California, has plunged to a record low, leaving half of its marina on dry land. Groundwater pumping, only newly regulated, now depletes aquifers at an alarming rate. Some wells in the middle of California have run dry. Five percent of irrigated farmland in the state has been left to wither. The drought will likely cost farmers $2.2 billion this year, according to a UC Davis study, putting the state’s $45 billion agricul-
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ture industry at risk. More than 1,000 wildfires have blackened the state, including some rare conflagrations this spring. The toll on wildlife, besides scorched earth, could also include loss of wetland habitats. Hawks and other birds of prey reproduce less because they don’t have enough to eat. In some areas, even cacti have begun to die. The toll on people could be more illness because of higher heat, smog, poor water quality and a reported uptick in West Nile virus.
Call to action For a population that has ballooned to 38 million during an exceptionally wet past century, the stubborn drought has been met with stubborn sacrifice. Early this year, Gov. Jerry Brown called a CRITICAL » PAGE 12
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■ Abnormally dry ■ Moderate ■ Severe ■ Extreme ■ Exceptional
DECEMBER
2013
JUNE
MARCH
2014
2014
SEPTEMBER
2014
Source: U.S. Drought Monitor
At left: Houseboats are dwarfed by the steep banks of Lake Oroville in Oroville in August. As the severe drought continues for a fourth straight year, water levels in lakes and reservoirs are reaching historic lows. Lake Oroville is currently at 32 percent of its total 3,537,577 acre feet. GETTY IMAGES
Below: Castaic Lake state water reservoir is located just north of Santa Clarita in August. HANS GUTKNECHT STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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The Drought 2014 | 11
DECEM
20
CRITICAL >> FROM PAGE 10
STAFF FILE PHOTO
The Southland hasn’t seen a good soaking in months. The forecast for a powerful El Niño this year has faded — replaced instead with record-high temperatures. WEATHER OUTLOOK
Drought-busting rain? Fat chance, meteorologists say By Dana Bartholomew
All of the state is now in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with more than half suffering “exceptional drought.” The Golden State has suffered record heat for most of this year. Los OR DROUGHT RELIEF, skyAngeles got less rain the past two watchers in the southern years than it normally gets in one. Golden State had bowed toThe drought, now in its fourth year, ward an equatorial swath of the Pacific Ocean that promised rain. continues a 15-year pattern, with 11 of But the powerful El Niño forecast- the past 16 years experiencing belownormal rainfall. ers had hoped would deliver buckScant rain and snowfall has deets this winter across California has pleted snow levels, streams, rivers, cooled. And with weaker ocean surreservoirs, lakes, water tables and face temperatures to alter the jet large aquifers from the San Joaquin stream comes a weaker chance of knocking out the drought that has en- to the Imperial valleys, with the state water supply at 40 to 50 percent of cagulfed the state. pacity. “Southern Californians are suffer“In general, California would need ing from El Niño fatigue,” said Bill Patzert, climatologist at the NASA Jet about 150 percent of average for the rainy season (October to April), Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada in order to significantly reduce the Flintridge. “On again, off again, on drought … and raise the low water again, now off again. supply in reservoirs and bring soil “It’s a phantom El Niño.” moisture to near normal levels,” acThrough New Year’s and into next cording to Alex Tardy, a National summer, the federal Climate PreWeather Service meteorologist in San diction Center forecasts above-norDiego. mal temperatures for California and Meteorologists now say if an El across the West. By year’s end, that Niño arrives this winter, it’s likely to may mean monsoon thunderstorms across inland deserts and mountains. be weak or moderate. “We’re so desperate for rain, we The added heat may also mean continued fire danger across a once-lush should change the state motto to Fiat Pluvia — show me rain,” Patzert said. Southern California. dana.bartholomew@langnews.com @DN_DanaBart on Twitter
F
12 | The Drought 2014
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statewide emergency, asking Californians to voluntarily cut a fifth of their water use. By spring they’d turned down the taps a notch. But in Southern California — a statewide leader in water conservation for decades — water use actually rose to save lawns parched by record heat. The result: state water regulators imposed outdoor water restrictions, with fines of up to $500 a day for scofflaws. Some cities hired water cops or beefed up anti-watering brigades, with residents required to remember when they can water lawns, or face fines. Water utilities doubled down on their offers of cash for turf. By midsummer overall water use had dropped nearly 8 percent. Sacramento lawmakers, meanwhile, offered up bills that would regulate the use of groundwater. They also approved a $7.5 billion water bond for the November ballot that would focus on rebuilding the state’s reservoirs, clean up polluted aquifers, add high-tech water-saving devices and help wean Southern California off imported water. If the current drought continues, the state must grapple with diminishing supplies from the Sacramento Delta and the Colorado River; how to replenish groundwater basins; divvy up water supplies between cities and farms; and whether proposals to desalinate the ocean can overcome the high cost and pollution. With Los Angeles now importing half of its needed water, residents who once sprayed copious water across verdant lawns and gardens are coming to grips with such terms as “California friendly landscaping.” For across the Golden State, brown has now become the new green.
But in Southern California — a statewide leader in water conservation for decades — water use actually rose to save lawns parched by record heat. The result: state water regulators imposed outdoor water restrictions ... Los Angeles News Group
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GEOLOGIC HISTORY
Past droughts have crushed civilizations
REGIONAL RESERVOIRS
The chart below shows the 14 major reservoirs in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works system (all figures in acre-feet).
By Ben Baeder
A
S BAD as the current drought may seem to Southern Californians suffering with brown lawns and low-flow showerheads, it doesn’t hold water to what the area faced during some of the worst periods in its history. Scientists who study ancient climates are learning that California’s past is marked by stifling, soul-crushing droughts that lasted 30 years or much longer and brought complex societies to their knees. By aging old tree stumps in Lake Tahoe, climate researcher Susan Lindstrom found a dry period that lasted an estimated 1,300 years until it finally started getting wetter around 4000 B.C. And, more recently, an extended dry period that began about 1,050 years ago likely helped cause the collapse of intricate Southwest American-Indian societies. The same scientists who study ancient droughts often work with anthropologists and archaeologists who examine how people responded to extremely dry periods. Researchers think regimes fell as warfare and starvation emaciated ancient cities. Skeletons in the Southwestern United States from periods of drought are marked with higher incidences of injuries from arrow tips and spears, according to anthropologist Pat Lambert of Utah State University. “Droughts create two things,” said Douglas Kennett, an archaeologist who has studied how California’s early people responded to climate changes. “An increase in interpersonal violence and an increase in social hierarchy.” Those who can innovate and respond to the change gain an advantage, which can cause a culture to stratify along economic lines, he said. For instance, groups that made beads used for currency seemed to fare better than other cultures. So did groups near the coast, who depended on ocean fish for food. Some societies formed more permanent settlements along the most reliable springs and streams. “Certain communities dominate others,” Kennett said. Other cultures simply disappeared. By comparison to that scale, the last 150 years of weather represent some of the most peaceful, reliable periods of rainfall in the region’s history, concluded paleoclimatologists B. Lynn Ingram and Frances Malamud-Roam, in their recent book “The West Without Water.” But the authors also concluded that we have drastically underestimated the severity of the West’s weather. Using their own research and cross-referencing with other scientists and scientific disciplines, they say California’s water supply can turn seemingly on a dime, and
Los Angeles News Group
Water available for release*
Reservoir
Capacity
Current storage
San Gabriel
44,440
226
0
Morris
29,370
11,439
3,698
Puddingstone
16,342
5,966
0
Cogswell
10,438
834
0
Big Tujunga
5,025
1,601
519
Pacoima
2,834
922
126
San Dimas
1,548
0
0
Big Dalton
1,080
0
0
Devil’s Gate
909
0
0
Santa Anita
765
55
0
Eaton Wash
652
0
0
Thompson Creek
515
0
0
Live Oak
250
0
0
Puddingstone Diversion
138
0
0
Three major reservoirs in Southern California that store water from Northern California and the Colorado River Castaic Lake
325,000
122,549
N/A
Pyramid Lake
180,000
168,087
N/A
Diamond Valley Lake
810,000
413,367
N/A
*Minimum pool of water is kept to preserve valves, pumps, etc. N/A (not applicable) Note: The county of Los Angeles Department of Public Works has about 4,343 acre-feet of water available for release. Much of that water is being used for groundwater recharge and water supply. Source: Los Angeles County Department of Public Works/California Department of Water Resources/Metropolitan Water District of Southern California PAUL PENZELLA/LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP
then stay changed for long stretches of time. Scientists call it the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. And when the ocean is cold, the jet stream change tends to move north, making for a much drier California. During the 1986-87 rainy season, a warm PDO crossed with warm temporary El Niño conditions, generating an additional 16 inches of rain in Los Angeles on top of what’s normal and delivering legendary ocean swells for surfers. Around 2000, the PDO flipped, and the weather has since been significantly drier, noted climatologist Bill Patzert at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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The Drought 2014 | 13
REGIONAL EXPERIENCE
State of thirst
Drought playing out differently across distinct parts of California By Steve Scauzillo steve.scauzillo@langnews.com >> @stevscaz on Twitter
M
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jorge Vargas, a foreman for Maggiora Brothers Drilling Inc., drills an 800-foot-deep water well at an almond farm in Chowchilla in April.
Dry con
DROUGHT FACTS
D
More than 25% of bottled water comes from a municipal water supply, the same place that tap water comes from. Approximately 400 billion gallons of water are used in the United States per day.
U ab o 5 re u w re In av h 10 w o M o p c
Sources: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
GETTY IMAGES
OST OF CALIFORNIA is experiencing a “severe” or “exceptional” drought, affecting more than 38 million Golden State residents, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. But as Californians know, the state feels more like three states — southern, central and northern — and while there’s a shared response from residents up and down the state, there are also significant differences in how the squeeze on water resources affects each region. “There’s no difference in how each area is handling it. They are all trying to do the same thing, conserve water. The differences lie in each area’s water interest,” explained David Feldman, a professor at UC Irvine in the Department of Social Ecology and chair of Planning, Policy and Design. Feldman, an expert in water resource management, has studied the allocation of water throughout the state. The biggest impact is in Central California, more specifically the San Joaquin Valley, with farmers fallowing lands and selling and buying water rights. “Central California is very dependent on agriculture for its economy,” Feldman said. “Their worries revolve around sustaining agriculture.” As the state enters the fourth straight year of drought, the area has experienced “the greatest absolute reduction in water availability for
S D P P
A lone weed grows on an unplanted field in August in Firebaugh, Calif.
a
S
GETTY IMAGES
Dry conditions have sparked fire concerns in state parks, including Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Lagunitas, north of San Francisco.
DROUGHT FACTS U.S. residents use about 100 gallons of water per day. At 50 gallons per day, residential Europeans use about half the water that U.S. residents use. In one year, the average American home uses more than 100,000 gallons of water (indoors and outdoors). More than 713 gallons of water go into the production of one cotton T-shirt. Sources: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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California agriculture ever seen,” according to a July study released by researcher Richard Howitt of UC Davis and funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The costs of farms having less surface water are beginning to add up. Water shortages in the Central Valley — the state’s bread basket — will add up to 6.6 million acre-feet in surface water. Farms will replace 5 million acre-feet by pumping more water out of the ground, according to the study, leaving a net water shortage of 1.6 million acre-feet. Additional pumping costs come to $454 million. Crop losses will cost the industry $810 million. Losses from livestock and dairy revenues cost will be $203 million in 2014. This adds up to $1.5 billion in direct losses, the study reported. The study concluded that the drought this year will have a $2.2 billion economic impact in
the industry and displace 17,100 jobs. If the rain stays away this winter and the drought continues into mid-2015 and 2016, the study predicts more over-drafting of groundwater, higher pumping costs and a price tag on agriculture of an additional $1 billion per year. Because the Legislature passed a measure to add controls to groundwater pumping, it could cause farmers to use more water now, before anticipated regulations take effect, he said. Already, water sales and water marketing are growing. The UC Davis report found “extremely high prices” being paid for water in the Central Valley, at least three times higher than water market transactions in the 2009 drought. Northern California’s urban areas, namely the Bay Area, are less used to droughts than in Southern California. “And some would argue, that because they are less
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“There’s no difference in how each area is handling it. They are all trying to do the same thing, conserve water. The differences lie in each area’s water interest.” — David Feldman, UC Irvine professor
The Drought 2014 | 15
JAE C. HONG — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jeff Thengvall leaves after releasing irrigation water for the rice fields in Richvale, Calif., in May. used to it, they also don’t have certain measures in place that would manage it better,” Feldman said. For example, many communities do not keep track of water use because residents, farms and commercial users often don’t have water meters. In Southern California, the per capita water use has remained the same over the last 30 years, despite increases in population. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported its customers used from 139 and 159 gallons per day between 1996 and 2008, about the same amount as in the late 1970s-early 1980s, said Marty Adams, director of water operations at LADWP. In 1991, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports water from Northern California and the Colorado River into Southern California, sold 2.5 million acre-feet or about 6 billion gallons to a population of about 14 million. In 2014, under extremely dry conditions, it will sell 2 million acre-feet to many more people — 19 million people — according to Jeff Kightlinger, MWD general manager. Reductions have come from low-flow shower heads, high-efficiency toilets and, more recently, replacing turf with drought-resistant landscaping. Some call those measures “low-hanging fruit” because they don’t require lifestyle changes. While Southern Californians have been through the drought drills many times in the last 30 years, this one could be worse. “We have done a lot in Southern California to use less water and conserve. But a lot of what we have done has been relatively easy to do,” Feldman said. “The next steps will have to be a bit more dramatic.”
TOTAL U.S. DROUGHT TOTAL U.S. DROUGHT As of September 2014 As of September 2014
Moderate
Severe
Extreme
Drought conditions
Source: National Drought Mitigation Center
16 | The Drought 2014
THE PORTERVILLE RECORDER
Drought conditions Abnormally dry
Abnormally Moderate caDrought.comSevere dry Source: National Drought Mitigation Center
Above: Volunteers appeal for donations earlier in September during the Porterville Water Challenge in Porterville. Many people started water challenges to help East Porterville area residents whose wells went dry for months.
Exceptional
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Extreme
Exceptional
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The Drought 2014 | 17
CA Mountain snowpack lacks its punch WATER WATER SOURCES SOURCES
Less Less runoff runoff forces forces agencies agencies to to look look elsewhere elsewhere to to meet meet the the needs needs of of customers customers
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By BySteve SteveScauzillo Scauzillo
steve.scauzillo@langnews.com steve.scauzillo@langnews.com @stevscaz @stevscazon onTwitter Twitter
W
ATER ATER IS IS SIMPLE. SIMPLE. It’s It’s made made of of just just two two elements elements — — hyhydrogen drogen and and oxygen. oxygen. It It falls falls from from the the sky sky and and itit covers covers two-thirds of the Earth. two-thirds of the Earth. Complications arise when trying to get Complications arise when trying to get fresh water from the mountains where fresh water from the mountains where it falls as snow, or the rivers where it it falls asthrough snow, or the rivers State wheretoit38 swishes the Golden swishes through the Golden State to 38 million thirsty people. million people. Whilethirsty it starts as rain or snow, potable While starts rain or snow, potable water for it the stateascomes from a number water for the state comes from a number of places. ofNinety-five places. percent of it comes from percent of it comes from theNinety-five snowpack of the Sierra Nevada. the snowpack of the Sierraand Nevada. The State Water Project the fedState Valley Water Project Project deliver and thethis federalThe Central eral Central Valleymostly Project deliverthe this melted snowpack through melted snowpackJoaquin mostly River through the a Sacramento-San Delta, Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, complex estuary where fresh water me-a complex estuary fresh water meanders next to thewhere salty Pacific Ocean anders next to the salty Ocean waters. Two-thirds of all Pacific residents — inwaters. most Two-thirds of — allrely residents including farmers on the— Delta cluding most farmers — rely onlevees the Delta and the 700-miles of channels, RICH PEDRONCELLI — ASSOCIATED PRESS and sloughs the 700-miles of channels, levees and for life-sustaining, economyRICHWater PEDRONCELLI — ASSOCIATED PRESS Frank Gehrke, right, chief of snow surveys for the Department Resources, checks and sloughs for life-sustaining, building, crop-producing water. economy- Frank Gehrke, right, chief of snow surveys for the Department of of Water Resources, checks the weight of a snowpack sample on a scale held by Joshua Nelson at Echo Summit near building, crop-producing water. fish, The melted snowpack supports the weight snowpack sample on a scale held by Joshua Nelson at Echo Summit near Lake Tahoe of on aApril 1. The melted snowpack supports fish, animals, homes, offices, industrial uses Lake Tahoe on April 1. animals, homes, offices, industrial uses and farmers in a state whose population and farmers state whose population could grow toin53a million people by 2030. could grow to 53 million people by Aqueduct 2030. Additionally, the Colorado River is capable of delivering Measurements of snow during the 638% 0% Additionally, Colorado RiverCalifornia. Aqueduct is capable of delivering 1 billion gallons the a day to Southern height of the drought andduring duringthe a Measurements of snow 638% 0% wet yearofshow dramatic differences As the gallons region enters theSouthern fourth year of a drought, supplies from 1 billion a day to California. height the drought and during a Northern in theyear amount snowpack in the Sierra/Trinity wet showofdramatic differences Northern California have curtailed 5 percent.supplies More water As the region enters thebeen fourth year ofto a drought, fromis beNorthern Sierras. in the amount of snowpack in the ing pumped from thehave Colorado Forto example, theMore city ofwater Los AnSierra/Trinity Northern California been River. curtailed 5 percent. is beSierras. geles — whichfrom builtthe itsColorado own aqueduct ago the down Highway 395 ing pumped River.100 For years example, city of Los An(Percent of normal from Owensbuilt Valley Mammoth100 — is nowago relying imported geles the — which its near own aqueduct years downonHighway 395 for this date) (Percent of normal water from the state for 50 percent of its supply. Thirty years ago it imfrom the Owens Valley near Mammoth — is now relying on imported 2011 forJune this9, date) 391% 0% ported 70 percent from Aqueduct — but that hasyears nearly water from the state forthe 50 L.A. percent of its supply. Thirty agodried it imJune June9, 9,2014 2011 391% 0% up. ported 70 percent from the L.A. Aqueduct — but that has nearly dried June 9, 2014 Central Sierra up.Local water runs from local mountains into local wells. Watersheds or highlands that capture freshmountains water include Santa Monica and Central Sierra Local water runs from local intothe local wells. Watersheds San Gabriel mountains. Rain andwater snowinclude from here or highlands that capture fresh the feed Santaunderground Monica and Southern aquifers in the San Fernando Pasadena-area, Sanunderground Gabriel Valley, Sierra San Gabriel mountains. Rain Valley, and snow from here feed Southern Central Basin, Chino Basin and from theSan Santa Ana River aquifersBasin, in theWest San Fernando Valley, Pasadena-area, Gabriel Valley, Sierra into the Inland Empire. 212% 0% Central Basin, West Basin, Chino Basin and from the Santa Ana River The last source of water, what is flushed down toilets, sinks and into the Inland Empire. 212% 0% through washing is being recycled and toilets, used for irrigation The last sourcemachines, of water, what is flushed down sinks and and replenishing groundwater basins. through washing machines, is being recycled and used for irrigation The most expensive, but largest, source of potential potable water, and replenishing groundwater basins. theThe ocean, is expensive, a new frontier. Poseidon Waterofispotential buildingpotable the largest demost but largest, source water, salination plant in the West in Carlsbad. The entire state is watching the ocean, is a new frontier. Poseidon Water is building the largest dethe project.plant If it succeeds, more than a dozen been salination in the West in Carlsbad. The other entireprojects state is have watching Source: California Department of Water Resources proposed around the state to tap the vast ocean and help provide for the project. If it succeeds, more than a dozen other projects have been LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP California’s water the future. Source: California Department of Water Resources proposed around state to tap the vast ocean and help provide for LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP California’s water future.
SNOWPACK SNOWPACK
18 | The Drought 2014
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Los Angeles News Group
325 32
38% 38%
97 97
38% 38%
2,40 2,40
22% 22%
2,03 2,03
20% 20%
Source: Ca
Source: C
CALIFORNIA RESERVOIRS ch
Total Totalreservoir reservoir capacity capacity
Facing Facing aa major major statewide statewide drought, drought, the the water water levels levels in in California’s California’s reservoirs reservoirs are are substantially substantially lower lower than than their their capacity capacity and and their their historical historical averages. averages.Below, Below,the the numbers numbers in in black black represent represent the the total total capacity capacity of of the the state’s state’s reservoirs reservoirs in in acre-feet. acre-feet. The The percent percent of of total total capacity capacity and and percent percent of of historical historical average average are are as as of of September September 2014. 2014.
Castaic Castaic Lake Lake
2,030,000 2,030,000
3,538,000 3,538,000
Storage Storage level level % %of ofhistorical historical average average
Exchequer Exchequer Reservoir Reservoir
1,032,000 1,032,000
39% 39% || 56% 56%
Folsom Folsom Lake Lake
% %of oftotal total capacity capacity
Don Don Pedro Pedro Reservoir Reservoir
325,000 325,000 38% 38% || 47% 47%
Capacity Capacity (Total (Totalacre-feet) acre-feet)
Historical Historical average averagemark mark
13% 13% || 27% 27%
Millerton Millerton Lake Lake
Lake Lake Oroville Oroville
977,000 977,000
520,000 520,000 31% | 48% 31% | 48%
38% | 63% 38% | 63%
38% | 90% 38% | 90%
D PRESS
ED PRESS ecks ecks ar ear
the gthe a nces ga he nces he
2,400,000 2,400,000
New New Melones Melones
1,000,000 1,000,000
20% | 46% 20% | 46%
San Luis Reservoir San Luis Reservoir
4,552,000 4,552,000
Pyramid Pyramid Lake Lake
171,000 171,000
12% | 33% 12% | 33%
22% | 39% 22% | 39%
2,039,000 2,039,000
Pine Flat Pine Flat Reservoir Reservoir
93% | 105% 93% | 105%
Shasta Reservoir Shasta Reservoir
2,448,000 2,448,000
Trinity Lake Trinity Lake
27% | 44% 27% | 38% 27% | 44% 27% | 38% Note: 1 acre-foot = 325,853 gallons (enough to supply two families in Southern California for a year)
Note: 1 acre-foot = 325,853 gallons (enough to supply two families in Southern California for a year) PAUL PENZELLA/LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP Source: California State Department of Water Resources Source: California State Department of Water Resources
PAUL PENZELLA/LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP
1
2
This sample bill from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power includes 1) usage history, 2) Tier rate information.
Understand your water bill You get that bill every month, or every other month, and notice it’s been creeping up. Maybe the rate has increased as water agencies pay more to import water, or maybe your usage has climbed. Here are a few key concepts to help you understand your bill. Water volume: Your usage will most likely be measured using an acronym. One common measure is HCF, which stands for “hundred cubic feet.” That’s equal to 748 gallons. Some agencies use MCF, which stands for “mil,” or thousand cubic feet. Rate “schedule” or “tariff”: This tells you which category of rate you are paying. Each utility, through its board of directors or some other body, approves rates for homes and businesses. These amounts vary based on the cost of water, needed infrastructure upgrades and other factors.
20 | The Drought 2014
Tiers: Most utilities charge higher water users a higher rate, to encourage efficiency and conservation. Your bill should break down how much you use before or after certain thresholds. Some utilities have one uniform rate and some use seasonal rates. Temperature zones: Some water agencies divide their service areas into zones based on average temperature. Customers in hotter areas, which may need more water to keep plants alive, are allowed more water before their higher rate tier kicks in. Pressure zones: Other agencies divide their areas into zones based on elevation. If it costs more to pump water to a higher elevation, customers in that zone may see a surcharge. Sources: Los Angeles Office of Public Accountability and staff research
caDrought.com
TIPS FOR USING YOUR POOL WISELY That status symbol of Southern California, the swimming pool, may seem now like a politically incorrect extravagance as the state sweats the start of the fourth year of a severe drought. But experts say a properly maintained pool, with safeguards against evaporation, can actually use less water than an irrigated lawn. Here are some tips for pool owners to save water: • Don’t fill too high, to prevent water from splashing over the sides. • In heated pools, keep water temperature lower to reduce evaporation. • Plant shrubs around the yard to shield from winds that cause waves and splash. • Using a pool cover can stop most evaporation. An uncovered pool can see its water level drop by 55 inches over a year through evaporation. • Keep your pool clean to reduce backwashing and check the system for leaks. Sources: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; www.letspooltogether.com
Los Angeles News Group
wmwd.com
# Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 21
Southern California water agencies
Servic
CITY OF
CITY OF Service area
Water restrictions
Other restrictions
Rebates
CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS
Mandatory
No watering between 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; alternate days; banned on Sundays
None
Water tracker app
CITY OF BURBANK
Mandatory
No watering between 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; limited to 3 days/week; 15 minutes
No watering of driveways
Turf removal $2 per square foot (residents), $1 for businesses
CALLEGUAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary 20%
No restrictions
None
None
Serves southeast Ventura County
CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
No restrictions
None
High efficiency clothes washers, toilets, rain barrels, turf removal ($1,000)
CITY OF COMPTON
Voluntary
No restrictions
None
Turf removal ($2 per square foot)
EASTERN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
No restrictions
None
MWD rebate program; turf removal ($2 per square foot); free rain gauges as part of water recycling kit; up to $450 for sprinkler controllers
Watering days
CITY OF
Serves 24 cities in southeast Los Angeles County as well as unincorporated county areas (227 square miles)
Serves Hemet, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Perris, San Jacinto, Temecula
FOOTHILL MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
No restrictions
None
Serves seven agencies for La Cańada-Flintridge, portions of Glendale and unincorporated areas of Altadena, Montrose and La Crescenta
MWD rebate program; free rain gauges as part of water recycling kit; up to $450 for sprinkler controllers
CITY OF FULLERTON
Voluntary
No restrictions
Prohibits filling fountains (unless recirculating); wash car with a bucket or hand-held hose with shut-off nozzle
Turf removal ($2 per square foot)
CITY OF GLENDALE
Voluntary
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
10 minutes maximum
MWD rebate program
INLAND EMPIRE UTILITIES AGENCY
Voluntary 20%
No restrictions
None
MWD rebate program
LA MIRADA
Voluntary
Bans hosing paved surfaces. No watering between 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
None
MWD rebate program
LAS VIRGENES MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
No restrictions
None
None
Serves Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland
Serves Agoura, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village as well as unincorportated areas of Agoura, Chatsworth, Lake Manor, Monte Nido and West Hills. Mandatory
No watering between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.; alternate days
Water provided by request at restaurants; must wash cars w/ shut-off nozzles
Turf removal ($3.50 per square foot); rebates for toilets, clothes washers, etc.
CITY OF LOS ANGELES (LADWP)
Mandatory
No watering between 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; alternate days
Must wash cars with shut-off nozzles; fines $100-300
Turf removal ($3 per square foot, up to $3,000 per account; high-efficiency washing machines ($175); see www.socalwatersmart.com
CITY OF PASADENA
Voluntary
No watering between 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. except with a hand-held container or hose with a shut-off nozzle. Three days a week
Bans hosing paved surfaces; no watering in the rain; must wash cars with nozzle
Low-flush toilets, shower heads, nozzles; turf removal ($2 per square foot)
Pasadena Water and Power
22 | The Drought 2014
THREE
Serves Clarem
CITY OF
Serves served
SAN GA
Serves Irwinda Gabriel Park, E Valinda
WEST B
Serves Culver Hermos Malibu Rancho Rolling
UPPER WATER
Serves Sierra
WALNU
Served by Suburban Water Systems
CITY OF LONG BEACH
CITY OF
caDrought.com
100,00
SAN BE MUNICI
Serves Colton Highlan and Yu
CITY OF
CITY OF
Sources
Los Angeles News Group
Service area
Water restrictions
Watering days
Other restrictions
CITY OF PICO RIVERA
Voluntary
No watering between 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; 15 minutes
N/A
Rebates for turf removal, rain barrels, soil moisture sensor system, high efficiency washers and toilets, rotating hose nozzle, weather based irrigation
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO
Voluntary
Specified by water agencies
Bans hosing surfaces; must wash cars with shut-off nozzles
N/A
CITY OF SAN MARINO
Voluntary
No watering between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
Bans hosing paved surfaces; must wash cars with shut-off nozzle
Turf removal ($2 per square foot)
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
Mandatory
No watering between 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Proposed Stage 2 plan: 68 gallons per person per day, with additional amounts for outdoor watering per season
No hosing paved surfaces, must wash vehicles with hand-held bucket or hose Restaurants can’t serve water unless requested. Commercial users: 10 percent reduction
Landscape changes (up to $3,000); high-efficiency toilets ($100); clothes washers ($85); rain gutter cisterns ($500-$2,000)
THREE VALLEYS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
None
None
N/A
Rain barrels ($75); soil moisture monitor sensors ($80); low-flush toilets ($50), turf removal; MWD rebate program
CITY OF TORRANCE
Voluntary
No watering between 9 a.m. -5 p.m., limited to three days a week
All leaks must be fixed in 7 days.
Rebates for turf removal ($2 per square foot)
SAN GABRIEL VALLEY MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
None
N/A
Rain barrels ($75); low-flush toilets, free or $50 rebate; soil sensors ($80); new programs begin April 1; commercial rebates offered; turf removal rebates
WEST BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
None
N/A
N/A
Provides free rain barrels, highefficiency toilets, and weather-based irrigation controllers to help reduce water use along with free landscape
UPPER SAN GABRIEL VALLEY MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
None
20 percent reduction
Rain barrels ($75); low-flush toilets, free or $50 rebate; soil sensors ($80); new programs begin April 1; commercial rebates offered; turf removal rebates
WALNUT VALLEY WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
N/A
20% reduction by all customers
Rain barrels ($75); soil moisture monitor sensors ($80); low-flush toilets ($50), turf removal MWD rebate program
SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Voluntary
None
None
Provides 25% subsidies for some programs
CITY OF ARCADIA
Mandatory
No watering between 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
$100 fines
Turf removal ($2 per square foot)
CITY OF ALHAMBRA
Mandatory
No watering between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.; alternating days
No refilling swimming pools, spas
Rebates for efficient washing machines, toilets
foot ses
shers, moval
e foot)
t); water or
rain cycling r
e foot)
c.
e ount;
Serves Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Walnut, Claremont, Pomona, Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar
Serves most of the city except for west end, which is served by California Water Service Co. Serves Alhambra, Monterey Park, Azusa, Sierra Madre
Serves 17 cities and unincorporated areas: Carson, Culver City, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, West Hollywood
Serves Bradbury, Monrovia, Duarte, Arcadia, Glendora, Irwindale, Covina, West Covina, Temple City, San Gabriel, South Pasadena, Rosemead, Baldwin Park, El Monte, South El Monte, Industry, Bassett, Valinda, La Puente, Hacienda Heights 100,000 residents in six communities
Rebates
Serves the cities and communities of San Bernardino, Colton, Loma Linda, Redlands, Rialto, Bloomington, Highland, East Highland, Mentone, Grand Terrace, and Yucaipa
m
heads,
Sources: Metropolitan Water District; www.socalwatersmart.com; as of September 2014
Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP
The Drought 2014 | 23
COPING WITH THE DROUGHT
Effects are rippling through businesses Businesses are under the same restrictions as residential users and they are finding new ways to conserve water. For example, high-water users such as MillerCoors in Irwindale and Anheuser-Busch in Los Angeles have replaced turf with droughtresistant plants and reduced water use through plastic conveyor belts. Other businesses like cemeteries, golf courses and industrial users have switched to recycled water from potable water.
As homeowners save water and let their lawns die, companies that transform sunbaked brown lawns into lush shades of green are springing up. In San Jose, Shawn Sahbari of Green Canary sprays paint on a dormant lawn, treatment that should last 90 days and will not wash off.
Mark Ellefson, owner of Prodigy Plumbing in Long Beach, says fixing running toilets and leaks have become priorities for homeowners.
fson,
in ch, g oilets
ome for ners.
A 10-acre green lawn in front of the MillerCoors brewery in Irwindale was converted into a drought-tolerant landscape. Inside the facility, at left, the machinery uses plastic instead of metal, reducing the amount of water needed to lubricate the conveyor.
The Woodland Hills Country Club uses a weather station and computerized irrigation system to keep the 18-hole course in top shape.
STAFF FILE PHOTOS
I’m Saving Water!!
26 | The Drought 2014
caDrought.com
Los Angeles News Group
GROUNDWATER One of the most important things we rely on every day is invisible, but it provides 40% of our local water supply. This invisible treasure is groundwater, and it lies in ancient underground aquifers. When properly managed, groundwater makes us drought proof, disaster proof, and self sufficient. Groundwater makes us independent from costly and less reliable water imported from Northern California and the Colorado River, while also protecting those fragile ecosystems. Learn how the Water Replenishment District’s “Water Independence Now” (WIN) program is protecting this incredible natural resource, visit
WWW.WRD.ORG Water Replenishment District of Southern California 4040 Paramount Blvd., Lakewood, CA 90712, 562-921-5521, www.wrd.org
Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 27
The Sierras, a vital source A
LMOST ALL of the water for Southern California comes from the Sierra Nevadas and it is delivered via a complex system of estuaries. Water also comes from the Colorado River and from the watersheds in the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains. A century ago, when a thirsty Los Angeles was poised for growth, water chief William Mulholland masterminded the city’s greatest engineering feat, a 233-mile aqueduct from the High Sierra to the San Fernando Valley. “There it is,” he proclaimed as the waters gushed down the cascade on Nov. 5, 1913. “Take it!” The L.A. Aqueduct, grandfather of an Aqueduct Empire across a semiarid Golden State, signified a ruthless, but successful quest for water. 28 | The Drought 2014
caDrought.com
Los Angeles News Group
Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
PHOTO BY JOHN MCCOY — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Drought 2014 | 29
30 | The Drought 2014
caDrought.com
Los Angeles News Group
Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 31
32 | The Drought 2014
caDrought.com
Los Angeles News Group
Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 33
CONSUMER OUTLOOK
Huge problem, real impacts Rationing likely as rain-poor California faces a water supply-and-demand crisis igation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the National steve.scauzillo@langnews.com Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis@stevscaz on Twitter tration. After three-plus years of record FTER A SWEATY DAY out- low rain and snowfall, the Golden State is now closer to a pale beige. doors, you’re only halfway through an evening shower And the water shortage is already hurting agriculture and threatening with shampoo stinging to kill our economy — not just our your eyes when it hits you: You’ve precious lawns. just about used up your water raRationing isn’t that tion for the day. And far away. In Santa you still have to waCruz, each singleter your petunias and family household has wash your dirty socks. RECENT RAINFALL been allotted 249 galWhat to do? The Los Angeles lons per day. MultiThough it may area gets 15 inches family units of two to sound exaggerated, of rainfall per year four, 174 daily gallons; California is inching on average. The with 149 gallons for closer to a reality just past three years, multifamily units of like that in the notbetween July 1 and five to 20 and 124 galtoo-distant future if June 30, saw much lons for multi-family the drought continues less: properties containing at its scorching pace. 2011-2012: 8.68 20 or more units. In fact, many exinches Fines begin at $25 perts predict some de2012-2013: 5.86 a month and go up gree of water rationinches from there, depending could start by next 2013-2014: 6.08 ing on how much you summer, unless Calinches exceed. ifornia residents and “I can’t wait for the businesses decrease Source: National day when I can rat their water usage by Weather Service on my neighbor,” said 20 percent or more — Bill Patzert, climatolor it rains buckets this ogist with Caltech’s winter. Jet Propulsion LaboWhat is likely to be ratory, who foresees continuation of the fourth straight year of drought the drought for the rest of this rain has arrived and it is real. The numyear and possibly longer. bers don’t lie. The state is in a Patzert complains that the State drought and nearly all of it is in a Water Resources Control Board’s severe or extreme drought, accordStage One restrictions on outdoor ing to the U.S. Drought Monitor, an watering are ineffective. arm of the National Drought Mit-
By Steve Scauzillo
A
34 | The Drought 2014
caDrought.com
Though many cities, such as Los Angeles and Pasadena, restrict outdoor watering to three days per week, most cities rely on the honor system to enforce the new rules. In fact, Los Angeles had only one water cop for 500 square miles at the end of July and was hurrying to hire two more before the end of the year. ¢ ¢ Yes, fines of up to $500 per day can be assessed to people who water too much, hose down driveways or don’t use a nozzle when washing their cars, but that rarely happens. While a study in May revealed Southern California hadn’t saved water but, in fact, had used 8 percent more water than last year, folks
Los Angeles News Group
Turf Te paid th
at the Southe dence conser In J square placed As o 2.5 mil ing rem a $60 m filled w homeo also bu said D
PHOTO BY DAVID CRANE — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Turf Terminators eliminates a high-water-use yard in Sylmar and replaces it with a drought-tolerant yard. The company is paid through rebates from water agencies, which are paying homeowners up to $3 a square foot to replace their lawns. at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California say strong evidence exists that the Southland is in conservation mode. In January, only about 99,000 square feet of lawn was being replaced with drought-friendly plants. As of late July, MWD reported 2.5 million square feet of turf being removed. The pull comes from a $60 million conservation budget filled with financial incentives for homeowners to take out lawns and also buy water-efficient appliances, said Debra Man, MWD assistant gen-
Los Angeles News Group
eral manager. The wholesale agency’s demand for water has dropped 15 percent this year as compared to the last critically dry year in 2007, she said. The drop in demand was accomplished during one of the hottest years on record, one in which temperatures have risen 6.7 degrees in Southern California so far. “Yeah, I think this is a big indicator that conservation has been embraced in Southern California,” Man said. The National Drought Mitigation
caDrought.com
Center says it is hard to break the “hydro-illogical cycle,” which whirls around from drought to awareness to concern to panic to rain and finally, to apathy. Getting people to recognize the severity of a drought and do something about it is tough. People are accustomed to hearing about droughts during the past and they believe a big rainstorm will come to wash it all away. But MWD says people are responding to 30-second TV ads and 60-secIMPACTS » PAGE 38
The Drought 2014 | 35
How much water does your home use every year?
A UCLA study found that in Los Angeles, outdoor water use accounts for 54 percent and indoor use accounts for 46 percent of single-family home water consumption.
Bathroom
SHOWER
FAUCET
23,000 – 36,000
TOILET
2,400
GALLONS
4,600 – 7,300
GALLONS
In Jan Califo late J squar
GALLONS
• Pre-1994 toilets use 3.5 gallons to 7 gallons per flush. Newer high-efficiency toilets use 1.28 gallons per flush or less. • Taking a bath requires up to 70 gallons of water. A five-minute shower uses only 10 to 25 gallons. • The average residential water leak wastes 10,000 gallons per year. Tip: Place about six drops of food coloring in your toilet tank and return in a half-hour. If you see the dye in the toilet bowl, then you have a leak between your tank and bowl.
Laundry Room
Exam
Califo • Cali • Clev • Cea • Coff
Califo • Coa • Wes WASHING MACHINE
5,400 – 18,000 GALLONS
• One load of laundry uses 20 to 50 gallons.
KITCHEN
DISHWASHER
1,500 – 4,000 GALLONS
FAUCET
12,800
caDrought.com
Home • Prac • Mul • Min • Thin • Prun
GALLONS
• Every dishwasher load uses about 15 gallons. • Tip: Replace kitchen faucet aerator with a low-flow model. 36 | The Drought 2014
Fruit Califo yields can re food f
Los Angeles News Group
Note: Ove vary depen
Sources: L ConSol/C bewaterw
OUTDOOR LANDSCAPING
r
00
LAWN
89,000 – 115,000 GALLONS
In January, only about 99,000 square feet of lawn in Southern California was being replaced with drought-friendly plants. As of late July, the Metropolitan Water District reported 2.5 million square feet of lawn being removed.
wer
turn eak
Examples of drought-resistant trees and plants California native shrubs • California Redbud • Cleveland Sage • Ceanothus ‘Concha’ • Coffee Berry California native trees • Coast Live Oak • Western Sycamore
California native perennials and annuals • California Poppy • Deer Grass • Island Alum Root California native succulents • Chalk Dudleya
Fruit trees California’s drought has been hard on fruit trees, often resulting in lower yields and a degraded quality of produce. Depending on the type of tree, they can require a lot of water. But their benefits are many, including providing food for people and habitat for wildlife. Homeowners should: • Practice deep, slow and infrequent watering • Mulch around fruit trees 1 foot from the base of the trunk • Minimize fertilizer applications • Thin fruit to produce healthier and tastier fruit • Prune trees to remove excess foliage Note: Over the years, California has tightened its standards, so the usage rates depicted here can vary depending on the age of appliances. Sources: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; ConSol/California Homebuilding Foundation; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; LANG research; bewaterwise.com; foodforward.org
Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
POOL
14,000 – 16,000 GALLONS TO FILL
(Double that amount in a year to keep it filled if no measures are taken against evaporation.) • Pool covers can reduce almost all water loss from evaporation. PAUL PENZELLA/LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP
The Drought 2014 | 37
IN IMPACTS >> FROM PAGE 35
ond radio spots featuring people using less water and giving hugs to a walking California figure. The spot ends with the tagline: “Show California the love she deserves.” Total hits on the MWD’s bewaterwise.com website rose from 9,000 earlier this year to 50,000 by July, said Bob Muir, a spokesman for the agency. Adan Ortega, a water consultant and former administrator with MWD, notes that Southern California residents have reduced their percapita water consumption during the past 20 years. Consumption has dropped from 200 gallons to 120 gallons per person per day. This was achieved through the installation of water-efficient toilets, washing machines, dishwashers and shower heads. He says in comparison, Northern Californians use 180 gallons per person per day.
How is this drought different?
PHOTOS BY DEAN MUSGROVE — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Cacti and succulents dominate the Woodland Hills home of Judee Kindel, who has included rock and whimsical art elements in her landscaping.
Fact: Droughts are common in Southern California. Recently, they’ve occurred from 1987 to 1992 and from 1999 to 2004. One of the most severe droughts took place in the 1970s, ending in 1978, Patzert said. A drought is defined when rainfall totals fall substantially below the stated average during a season, which runs from July 1 to June 30, according to the National Weather Service. The Los Angeles area gets 15 inches of rainfall per year on average. In the 2011-2012 season, the area received 8.68 inches; 2012-2013: 5.86 inches; 2013-2014: 6.08 inches. If above-average rainfall does not happen this fall and winter, a fourth straight drought year will be in the books. Which begs the question, if droughts are normal, why is this latest one different? A drought in 2014 is more troubling than one in the late 1970s because the state’s population has grown so much, from 20 million in 1970 to more than 38 million today. At the same time, farming and other industries that have heavy water usage have grown as well since the 1970s. Agriculture uses 75 percent of the state’s water, Patzert said. Newer crops such as almonds and exports of rice to China are using more of the state’s water. Vineyards have been added to Santa Barbara, San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties, all requiring large amounts of water in areas very drought-prone. Likewise, the entire Silicon Valley did not exist in the late 1970s. Making computer chips and electronics takes water, lots of it. “For the same rain today you don’t get the same result,” Patzert said. “Now, you have to figure the other large issue: The human factor.”
A Porter Ranch homeowner took advantage of LADWP’s cash-for-grass rebate by redoing her front yard. The grass is gone and today her landscape requires much less water.
38 | The Drought 2014
caDrought.com
Los Angeles News Group
L
By D
donn @don
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ours terin for t neig our W Tr
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to a alifor-
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HESE are tough times for lawns and those who love them. Mired in what is now a fouryear drought, many of us find ourselves either juggling designated “watering” days — while casting a wary eye for the water police who now patrol L.A.’s neighborhoods — or wincing as we watch our once-green yards fade to brown. What’s a homeowner to do? Transitioning to a drought-resistant
landscape to replace thirsty turf has become a popular option. So has using synthetic grass. But what if you love your lawn? And some of your other beloved garden plants and trees? Are there survival tools to help it eke through this prolonged dry spell? Ron Akiyama, who owns Sunflower Farms in Gardena with his wife, Wendy, a landscape designer, says it’s doable with “some judicious watering.” Most important, he said, is to install timers on any watering system you use — and think of going drip or soaker irrigation rather than traditional shootingspray sprinklers.
And remember mulch. Putting a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch on your flower beds reduces evaporation and protects roots from the heat. Don’t over-prune and don’t overuse fertilizers. If water is very limited, opt for watering your fruit and landscape trees before watering the lawn. For lawns, Akiyama said watering for short periods more frequently — early mornings are best — beats a long soak once a week. “The duration of putting water on the lawn is not as important as the frequency,” he said. Citrus trees take lots of deep watering, especially before they’re established
David hom
Watering grass for short periods more frequently, especially in the early morning, is better than a long soak once a week, experts say.
(whic As when “It your of Su a set make not j W ple w depe Bu quite much — wi curl, ward Ge ture inche if an wate De apple quire as th “In on th if an migh time
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Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 39
SOCA
“If you go out to Point Vicente (on the Palos Verdes Peninsula), the bluffs are covered with our native plants and they’re very beautiful. They’re going to be able to take the droughts and they’re a wonderful, viable alternative to lawns.”
- to beds ots don’t mited, scape
for ly ak
re-
rshed PHOTO BY ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
David Puac, right, and George Navoretti install drip irrigation and a drought-tolerant landscape at a home in the San Fernando Valley.
(which takes five to seven years). As for citrus trees, soil is a key factor when figuring a watering plan. “It’s really hard to say, it depends on your soil condition,” said Wendy Akiyama of Sunflower Farms. “There isn’t really a set pattern for it. The main thing is to make sure the entire root ball is watered, not just the shallow roots.” Well-established trees can go for a couple weeks without watering, but again it depends on variables such as soil. But be careful, it’s also possible (and quite common) to kill these trees with too much water. And signs of drought stress — wilting leaves, dropping fruit and citrus curl, according to the website Food Forward — can also be signs of over watering. Get into the habit of checking soil moisture before watering by digging about 6 inches below the soil around the tree to see if any is dry to the touch and in need of watering. Deciduous trees bearing stone fruits — apples, peaches, pears and plums — require less water than evergreen citrus trees as they are dormant in winter, she said. “In the winter, when there are no leaves on the tree, they take very little water, if any,” she said. But if there’s no rain, it might still be a good idea to water a couple times a month, she said.
WHAT IS A RAIN BARREL?
One way to use less tap water is to replace it with rain water (assuming it ever rains again). If you install a minimum 50-gallon barrel at your house, and collect runoff from your rain gutters, you could qualify for a $75 rebate. Some people use the rainwater for gardening, either through a hose or by filling a watering can from a spigot. Plants prefer rainwater because it is “softer” than tap water and free of chlorine, fluoride and other chemicals. Just don’t forget to a install mosquito screen. Check socalwatersmart.com for information on rebates and installation. — Mike Reicher
than others “I have a lawn that’s pretty much bulletproof,” Latimer said, adding he spends about 20 minutes watering it once every two weeks. “It’s a 50-year-old lawn and I don’t give it much love. But it stays pretty green.” And efforts are ongoing, he said, to develop even stronger, deeper-rooted grass hybrids that can survive drought spells. Still, his take on California lawns: Why Rethinking your lawn bother? “If it wasn’t a lawn that my mom had South Bay landscape designer David forever, I’d get rid of it and put in some Latimer said well-established lawns also Mediterranean plants and succulents,” he will fare better. Some hot-zone species, like Saint Augustine or Bermuda, do better said. “I just can’t see giving water to turf.”
40 | The Drought 2014
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David Latimer, South Bay landscape designer
Latimer also suggested embracing dandelions. “A lot of people hate dandelions and we spend all this money getting rid of them; it’s a billion-dollar industry,” he said. “I say be more content with what comes up in your lawn. Let the stuff that wants to be there be there. Why fight nature?” Done with the lawn altogether? The city of Los Angeles offers rebates — recently increased to $3 per square foot — to remove still-surviving lawns. Rebates also are available on the purchase of replacement plants that are drought tolerant. It’s best to go with California natives, said Latimer. “If you go out to Point Vicente (on the Palos Verdes Peninsula), the bluffs are covered with our native plants and they’re very beautiful,” he said. “They’re going to be able to take the droughts and they’re a wonderful, viable alternative to lawns.” Learn from nature, be creative and have some fun with it, said Wendy Akiyama, who helps homeowners grow beyond their lawns. “Go out to the desert, look at the mountains,” she said. “Take pictures, see how it’s all laid out.” Want to go even more low-maintenance and water-free? The Akiyamas said the newer, more realistic synthetic lawns are a fast-growing segment of their landscape contracting business. “It’s not (the old) astroturf,” Ron Akiyama said. “It’s unbelievable how good this stuff is.” Sure, it’s fake. But hey. That’s so L.A.
Los Angeles News Group
Joshua
SOCAL LIVING
Sipping, not sacrificing, in the ’burbs Some Southern Californians are serving as models for fellow homeowners who are looking for creative ways to reduce water usage without cramping their lifestyles.
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PHOTOS BY BRITTANY MURRAY — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Joshua Frank and his wife, Chelsea Mosher, here with their dog Arlo, converted their front yard, below, to drought-tolerant plants.
JOSHUA FRANK AND CHELSEA MOSHER
Long Beach: Native landscapes Stories by Sandra Barrera sandra.barrera@langnews.com >> @SandraBarrera18 on Twitter
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ONSERVING WATER wasn’t the only reason Joshua Frank and his wife, Chelsea Mosher, converted their tiny yard and parkway to California coastal and chaparral native plants. As surfers, they wanted to curb runoff and create a habitat for local wildlife in their downtown Long Beach neighborhood. Their 1923 California bungalow sat empty for a few years until the 30-something couple — he’s managing editor at the online political journal CounterPunch, she’s an artist who teaches photography at California State University, Long Beach — moved in
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To receive an Ocean Friendly Garden designation, the property must meet certain criteria in a number of areas including irrigation, mulch and plants. and began tackling the neglected grounds. With volunteers from Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Gardens and a cash-back incentive from the city’s Lawn-toGarden Turf Replacement Program, they ripped out truckloads of grass and gravel, replenished the sandy soil and put in drought-tolerant landscaping. “This is the dormant season for native so our garden doesn’t look as showy,” Mosher says. Frank chuckles, saying “It’s definitely better in the spring — if we get any rain.” To compensate for dry spells, they hand water their landscape of pink flowered currants, California mountain lilacs, Pacific mist, seaside daisy and more to keep it thriving without going above the Tier 1 usage level on their bill. “It is a shift to switch from looking at palm trees, bougainvillea and birds of paradise,” Mosher says. “Because anything can grow in Southern California, it starts to seem like there is no regional landscape. With this, I can appreciate it.”
42 | The Drought 2014
HAT STARTED as a vegetable patch and some fruit trees in Rishi Kumar’s backyard is today a model of sustainable living that he calls The Growing Home. In fact, it is how the 25-yearold Diamond Bar resident makes his living. His homebased business teaches people how to “re-think, re-imagine and re-generate the suburban landscape” by example. Almost every square inch of his family’s hillside property in this tract community is used for growing food, which could potentially result in excessive water use. But Kumar has improved the quality and moisture retention properties of the otherwise hard, compact clay soil. “If you grow on this, you’re going to have a water problem,” he says. “It’s basically like cement. Water can’t infiltrate it, roots can’t go very deep, which
means they’re going to dry out and the plants are going to die. This is the main problem on a hillside.” Replenishing the soil with wood chip mulch and horse manure (acquired for free from local tree trimming companies and stables), terracing the slope (to slow water and sink it) and digging flat-bottom ditches — called swales — filled with boulders or tree branches (to capture runoff from the roof and sloping driveway) have transformed the area from lawn and patio to a lush and thriving urban farmland. He also reuses water, giving more than one purpose to it. The term is “graywater.” An outdoor sink used to rinse dirt from vegetables also drains over a bed of tomatoes. The rest of his landscape is irrigated by a drip system. “What I always tell people is this: if you’re just growing a landscape, don’t use any water,
A sign shows the importance of water. but if you’re growing food, it’s OK to use water,” he says. “Just grow it in a way that uses less water.”
PHOTOS BY KEITH DURFLINGER — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Rishi Kumar shows off his drought-friendly yard at what he calls The Growing Home. caDrought.com
Los Angeles News Group
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JIM HEIMLER
Woodland Hills: Sustainable by design
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HEN Jim Heimler, principal at James Heimler, Architect, Inc. moved to his 1946 canyon home in Woodland Hills 27 years ago, he was already a champion of sustainable living. Chalk it up to his 1960s Laurel Canyon upbringing. Back then, not a tree was pruned without a vote. He went on to practice green design and started up a citywide recycling center in Santa Monica in the mid- to late-1970s. And over the years, he’s greened his home one fix at a time. One such fix was going from a conventional water heater to a tankless system that “costs maybe three times as much but also lasts three times as long,” he says. The tankless unit he installed more than a dozen years ago saves water by heating it in a flash. “It used to be people spent 3 to 5 minutes with the faucet running, waiting for the water to heat up,” he says. “Here, we can get hot water in under a minute.” To make it even more efficient, the unit is connected to an electric pump, on a timer, so there’s always a steady supply of hot water circulating from low-flow faucet to shower head via a looping pipe whenever he needs it. That feature alone eliminates the need to clear the pipes when going from hot water to cold.
PHOTOS BY ANDY HOLZMAN — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jim Heimler shows off his kitchen faucet. He decreased the pressure in order to reduce water use. This month he’s tackling the landscape irrigation. Several trees on all sides of his home have died from lack of water, leaving his yard sun-scorched and dry. He’s tried hand watering but it put his usage in Tier 2 of his bill. “My hand watering really blew it,” he says. “It turns out I was way overwatering.” Before the fall planting season begins, Heimler will have changed out all the sprinkler
Heimler keeps reminder notes of Los Angeles County watering regulations inside his irrigation control box.
Los Angeles News Group
heads with water-saving equivalents. “You do what’s easy first,” he says, adding the new irrigation system “will add more lines and still reduce my water usage by half so we’ll be less than we were.”
“It used to be people spent 3 to 5 minutes with the faucet running, waiting for the water to heat up. Here, we can get hot water in under a minute.”
Tankless water heater and circulating pump.
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 43
Parry’s agave, seen here at The Huntington, is a slow-growing plant native to Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.
Astrophytum ornatum, or Bishop’s Cap, reaches more than 6 feet in height. This one was at the Huntington Botanical Gardens.
This deser Garden, w
Drought-resistant plants on display • Cal State Northridge Botanical Garden 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge; 818-677-3496; www.csun.edu/botanicgarden
• Conejo Valley Botanical Garden Dover and Hendrix avenues, Thousand Oaks; 805-494-7630; www.conejogarden.org
• Castaic Lake Water Agency’s Conservatory Garden and Learning Center 27234 Bouquet Canyon Road, Santa Clarita; 661-297-1600; www.clwa.org
• Descanso Gardens — Los Angeles Botanical Garden 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge; 818-949-4200; www.descansogardens.org
• Chino Valley Water District, Water Conservation Campus 4594 San Bernardino St., Montclair; 909-626-2711; www.cbwcd.org/145/Water-ConservationCenter-Campus
• Huntington Botanical Gardens 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino; 626-405-2100; www.huntington.org
Lepechinia hastata, a member of the mint family, is at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont. 44 | The Drought 2014
• Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia; 626-821-3222; www.arboretum.org • Maloof Discovery Garden 5131 Carnelian St., Rancho Cucamonga; 909-980-0412; www.malooffoundation.org
• Sant Visitor garden King G Highwa www.n
• Manhattan Beach Botanical Garden 1236 N. Peck Ave., Manhattan Beach; 310-546-1354; www.manhattanbeachbotanicalgarden.org
• Sout 26300 Penins www.s
The California Meadow for All Seasons contains a variety of grasses and plants that are drought-tolerant. It’s at Descanso Gardens.
caDrought.com
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Los Angeles News Group
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This desert willow was growing at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, where all of the plants are native to Southern California.
Flowers blossom on a desert willow at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. The plant is a member of the bignonia family.
WATER-WISE GARDENING TIPS • Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden 1500 N. College Ave, Claremont; 909-625-8767; www.rsabg.org • Santa Monica Mountains Interagency Visitor Center’s native plant demonstration garden King Gillette Ranch, 26876 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas; 805-370-2301; www.nps.gov/samo
Suggestions from Patrice Hanlon, The Gardens at Heather Farm in Walnut Creek; and Kathleen Norris Brenzel, Sunset Magazine: Hydrozone: “For newbies, you go to the nursery and you see attractive groupings of plants, but you take them home and they don’t always have the same water needs,” Hanlon says. “With hydrozoning, you group plants together that have the same water requirements. Pay attention to what you’re buying.” Let potted plants tell you what they need: Put trays under pots in summer, and water until the tray is full. Then don’t water again until the tray is empty and the plant has sucked up the water.
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• South Coast Botanic Garden 26300 Crenshaw Blvd, Palos Verdes Peninsula; 310-544-6815; www.southcoastbotanicgarden.org
rasses s.
Descanso has several varities of agave plants, including this one near the historic Boddy House. Los Angeles News Group
Pull back on fertilizer: “Fertilizers will make plants grow quicker, which is great, but then they need more water too,” Brenzel says. “Go for organic amendments to the soil.” Things to do right now: • Mulch. Compost. “The more you can build soil up with nutrients, the less water needed,” Hanlon says. • Rethink your irrigation system. Look for leaks. Change from overhead irrigation to drip, if possible. • Change water habits. “If you water every day for five minutes, you’re not helping the plant,” Brenzel says. “Infrequent deeper waterings encourage a stronger root system.” — Staff research
PHOTOS BY JOHN MCCOY — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Round barrel cactus at the Huntington Botanical Gardens.
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 45
POLITICS
Common ground in Sacramento Action by lawmakers includes putting water bond on November ballot By Mike Reicher mike.reicher@langnews.com @mreicher on Twitter
I RICH PEDRONCELLI — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gov. Jerry Brown, left, with former Assembly Speaker John Perez in February, finds himself once again leading a state in the midst of a historic drought — just as he was in 1977, below.
LENNOX MCLENDON — ASSOCIATED PRESS
46 | The Drought 2014
T’S ONE THING that Sacramento Republicans and Democrats can agree upon: The state has to act to preserve California’s water supply. This past legislative session was unusually productive as lawmakers approved a $7.5 billion water bond for the November ballot and created the state’s first plan to regulate groundwater use. Also, regulators passed mandatory conservation rules that allow fines up to $500 per day. Those stricter measures came after Gov. Jerry Brown called on Californians in January to voluntarily conserve 20 percent of water. But by May, the reduction was closer to 5 percent, and the Water Quality Control Board later voted to force local governments to patrol for water wasters. “There are some taking that approach very seriously and being aggressive, but others are not,” said Andrew Fahlund, the deputy director of the California Water Foundation. Los Angeles hired three new “water cops” in August to enforce its conservation laws, which have been on the books for years but were rarely used to issue citations. Residents across the Southland now have to remember when to water their lawns, or face fines. Voters will also be asked to pass the water bond, which focuses on rebuilding reservoirs, cleaning contaminated aquifers and installing watersaving technology. In Southern California, it would support projects that bolster the local supply and wean the region off of imported water.
Workers ass JUSTIN SULLIVAN — GETTY IMAGES
Brown grass is the new green at the state Capitol in Sacramento, where groundskeepers have implemented a reduced watering program and allowed large sections of the lawn die off.
UNDERSTANDING THE DROUGHT Keys terms and the role of agencies in understanding the drought State Water Project: Built mostly in the 1960s, the state’s largest water project brings water from the state’s wet northern region to 25 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland. Central Valley Project: A federal water canal-and-storage system built primarily in the 1940s irrigates about one-third of California’s farmland. Bay-Delta Accord: An agreement signed in 1994 that followed a crippling drought that lasted from 1987 to 1992. Environmentalists and Northern Californians said farmers and Southern California suburbanites were all but destroying the wetland ecosystem between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay. The accord protected wildlife areas while trying to maintain a steady flow of water for customers. The All-American Canal System: The federally owned but locally operated canal system routes water from the Colorado River to farms and population centers in the southern edge of the state. It was built in the 1930s. Aquifers: Underground natural formations of rock that store rain and snowmelt and provide water for communities all over the state, including much of the San Gabriel Valley, southeast Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. Los Angeles Aqueduct: A canal completed in 1913 that brought water from the eastern Sierra Nevada to Los Angeles. A second canal was completed in 1970s. Sources: California Department of Water Resources, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, LANG research
caDrought.com
Los Angeles News Group
The new des built behind
GETTY IMAGES
Fish and Wildlilfe workers in April released thousands of fingerling Chinook salmon into the Mare Island Strait in April in Vallejo. Low water levels on the state’s rivers have forced officials to truck an estimated 30 million young Chinook salmon to assist fish with migration. ENVIRONMENT
Drought resetting plant, animal life By Steve Scauzillo steve.scauzillo@langnews.com @stevscaz on Twitter
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“The winters and springs are getting much, much shorter. The drier seasons are getting longer,” Gold said, referring to drought combined with climate change. Ann Croissant studies the alluvial fan sage scrub at the Santa Fe Dam. Here, even the succulents are dying. “We are losing native trees and shrubs in this area,” said Croissant, a botanist with expertise in plant physiology and earth science. Drought has spurred growth in opportunistic imported grasses, such as mustard. These choke out native flora and make rich fuel for wildfires. Seasons speeding up? Croissant prefers to call it a lack of seasons. “We’re down to two, wet or dry. And lately, just dry,” she said. Animals move away in search
of water. And the drought may produce more migratory birds looking for food and water. If the state’s Central Valley doesn’t have enough water or wetlands to support the fall and winter migration, there could be a die off, said Sandi Matsumoto, senior project director of The Nature Conservancy. Dry lands may increase wildfires. Already this year, almost 2,000 acres burned above Glendora and Azusa in January, not a typical month for fires. Firefighters are bracing for December and January when the Santa Ana winds show up. And air quality scientists worry that more fires due to more drought could lead to higher levels of winter smog. Unless of course the winter brings rain, which cleanses the air.
OTANISTS and earth scientists live by this credo: If you want to learn the effects of climate on habitat, study the plants because unlike animals, they can’t run away. The flora of the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains grow in a biome dominated by scrub chaparral that turns into pine forests in higher elevations, coastal sage scrub near the ocean. In the flood plains — these are usually near the base of the mountains ahead of the rivers — alluvial fan sage scrub dominates. Scientists now see a brittle, caustic ecosystem bled dry by three-plus years of drought. Some say the dearth of moisture is changing their habits, such as when they flower, when they pollinate and when they go dormant. This system is being knocked out of whack by years of drought, said Mark Gold, associate director of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. A plant that flowers too early may never reproduce if the pollinators are not ready at the right time, Gold said. Plants WILL LESTER — STAFF PHOTOGRAHPER are temperature driven, meanA fi refi ghter battles the Colby Fire above Glendora in January. While fires ing they can flower too soon or out of sequence if it’s too hot or present a clear danger to life and property in burn zones, “fine-particle” air pollution from smoke can affect the health of people miles away. too dry.
Los Angeles News Group
caDrought.com
GLOSSARY
Terms to understanding the drought Acre-foot: A volume measure for water. One acre foot is the amount of water that covers one acre of land one foot deep. It equals 325,851 gallons of water. Spreading grounds: Flat, undeveloped areas of porous sand and gravel used for percolating runoff or captured water into underground aquifers. Reclaimed or recycled water: Wastewater that has been treated so that it can be reused for irrigation purposes or for replenishing aquifers. Watershed: A geographical portion of the Earth’s surface from which water drains or runs off to a single place like a river. Sources: California Department of Water Resources, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, LANG research
The Drought 2014 | 47
HEALTH
Climate change can affect wellness By Susan Abram
weather events including floods, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Climate change is arguably the biggest health threat of this century,” said ESPIRATORY illnesses, water Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the quality, and mosquito- and rodent-related diseases will worsen Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the second largest in the naacross Southern California and beyond in the next few decades because of tion. “We are already experiencing one of the worst droughts in history, and it is exclimate change, scientists contend. In fact, California’s deepening drought, pected that conditions will worsen over time. We have to take action now in orwhich some say is a result of climate change, already has contributed to the in- der to lessen the effects of climate change crease of West Nile virus. There are more that we will experience here in Los Angeles County.” infected mosquitos so far this year comFielding’s department released two repared to last year, a result of a competiport this summer which outline various tion for fewer water resources, which enchanges as a result of temperatures rising courages spread of the illness, according up to five degrees by 2050, according to to officials. UCLA researchers. Additionally, the heart, lungs, digesThose changes include an increase in tive system and mental health all can heat-related deaths and illnesses, more be affected by climate change such as air pollution that can affect those with increased temperatures and extreme susan.abram@langnews.com @sabramLA on Twitter
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asthma, bad water quality as resources shrink, and more insect-related diseases. Some places across the San Fernando Valley, for example, may see up to 25 straight days of 95 degree or hotter temperatures and less rain. Both reports were issued so that county residents and agencies can take action to reduce climate change. “Responding to this threat requires action on the part of individuals, community groups, and local government,” said Angelo Bellomo, director of the Environmental Health Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in a statement. “Fortunately, there are practical steps that people can take now to improve their health in the short term, and help protect future generations in the long term.” Both reports can be found on the L.A. County Department of Public Health’s website: www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh.
“We’re going to have to live with our new reality. Droughts are gonna keep coming. So we might as well change our mindset and even have some fun with what we can do. The key to a beautiful garden is not just the plants you buy, but how you put them together to make them sing.”
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— Kathleen Norris Brenzel, garden editor at Sunset magazine, Aug. 27, 2014
“We could reduce our water use by 30 percent without breaking a sweat. We’ve got communities up here near Pasadena that look like a rain forest. There’s a lot of fat to cut.” — Bill Patzert, JPL climatologist, Feb., 2014
PHOTO BY GENE BLEVINS
With dry conditions, gusty winds can kick up dust, making it treacherous for drivers.
Source: U
48 | The Drought 2014
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Los Angeles News Group
36.0 78.0
Palmdale 5
Castaic
14
Angeles National Forest
57.0 96.0
Santa Clarita
55.0 100.0
Acton
Woodland Hills
101
36.0 73.0
405
4.0 18.0
13.0 42.0
Studio Eagle Rock City Hollywood El Sereno Westwood Downtown Santa 6.0 L.A. 1.0 Baldwin Monica 23.0 5.0 Hills Venice 110 0.5 2.0 Watts 0.1 2.0 12.0 0.6 2.0 Compton Manhattan 14.0 Beach 14.0 28.0
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60
66.0 110.0
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56.0 103.0
La Habra
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57
5
60
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Corona
91
Moreno Valley
Anaheim Cypress
Palos Verdes Estates
2.0 5.0
Diamond Bar
San Bernardino 10
Ontario
710
Torrance
Rancho Cucamonga
210
13.0 41.0
Long Beach
Orange
4.0 17.0
Huntington Beach
Los Angeles area is getting warmer
5.0 18.0
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Seal Beach
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15
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Murrieta
Laguna Beach
Average number of days each year temperatures exceed 95 degrees.
3.0 11.0
Current and projected temperature extremes for Los Angeles
Baldwin Hills Downtown L.A. Eagle Rock El Sereno Hollywood Porter Ranch San Pedro Studio City Sunland Sylmar Venice Watts Westwood Woodland Hills
215
Lake Elsinore
74
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Current and projected temperature extremes for Southern California
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Current 2041-2060 projection
Current 2041-2060 projection
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0
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15
20
25
30
30
60
90
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Number of days Source: UCLA LARC study, 2012
Los Angeles News Group
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PAUL PENZELLA/LOS ANGELES NEWS GROUP
caDrought.com
The Drought 2014 | 49
o
“This year, it really feels scary. Unless we have an incredible February or a miracle March, this looks bad.” — Sue McClurg, a spokeswoman for the Water Education Foundation Feb. 15, 2014
PHOTOS BY SCOTT VARLEY — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Workers assemble giant seawater intake pipes for the $1 billion desalination plant in Carlsbad. DESALINATION
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The big takeaway: salt The new desalination plant is being built behind the Encina Power Station.
For the plant to succeed, high-quality drinking water will have to be delivered at the price promised without causing unexpected impacts to the environment.
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50 | The Drought 2014
CARLSBAD » Across from a classic Southern California beach 35 miles north of San Diego, hundreds of construction workers are assembling what could represent the state’s best hope to beat the drought: the largest ocean desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The $1 billion project will provide 50 million gallons of drinking water a day for San Diego County when it opens in 2016. The project could mark a turning point in California’s stop-andstart desalination efforts over the last few decades. Cost and environmental reasons have stymied efforts of this scale in the past. With the state in severe drought, 15 desalination projects are proposed along the coast from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay. “Everybody is watching Carlsbad to see what’s going to happen,” said Peter MacLaggan, vice president of Poseidon Water, the Boston firm building the plant. For the plant to succeed, Poseidon will have to deliver high-qual-
ity drinking water at the price promised — and not cause unexpected impacts to the environment such as fish die-offs. Desalinated water typically costs about $2,000 an acre-foot. That’s twice the cost of obtaining water from building new reservoirs or recycling wastewater, and about four times the cost of water retained through conservation. High costs have shut down projects elsewhere. Santa Barbara built a plant for $34 million and kept it open for only four months in 1991. The drought ended and the city shut it down because water from other sources was cheaper. Some experts say the plants are coming despite the cost. “In the next 10 years you are probably going to have three big plants built in Southern California and another plant or two in Northern California,” said Tom Pankratz, editor of the Water Desalination Report. “The trend is toward more desal. They are the most reasonable insurance policy against a long, protracted drought.”
caDrought.com
“We are in drought. We have been in drought for a long time and it is large scale. And this is for the entire state.” — Bill Patzert, climatologis, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge Dec. 22, 2013
“People are stepping up. It’s not enough yet, but we are heading in the right direction.” — Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board on water conservation efforts in the state. Sept. 10, 2014
Los Angeles News Group
Going Green with Sustainable Landscape Gardens water efficient and drought tolerant gardens at five public spaces across the District’s service area. Upper District’s Board of Directors selected five public spaces in the cities of Arcadia, Covina, Duarte, La Puente, and South Pasadena to implement the Sustainable Landscape Demonstration Program. These sites were selected in visible and accessible locations to provide community members with examples of sustainable landscaping; drawing further attention and interest to water efficient gardening practices. Each of the five sites were selected with the intent of reducing its water footprint by installing high-efficiency irrigation systems, low-water-use plants, and on-site stormwater retention and capture. The sustainable landscape demonstration projects in Arcadia and Covina have already been completed, and the projects in Duarte, La Puente, and South Pasadena are well underway. Corner of Huntington Drive & 2nd Ave. Arcadia, CA
California is experiencing one of the most severe and record-breaking droughts due to below average precipitation levels and increased temperatures. In January, Governor Jerry Brown issued a statewide emergency drought declaration calling upon all Californians to lower their individual water use by 20 percent. The average Californian uses 196 gallons of water per day; 30 to 60 percent of this water is used for outdoor purposes alone. Through a variety of measures that can be made daily, Californians are being asked to find the right combination that works for them to reduce their water use by 20 percent, or 39 gallons a day. The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District encourages San Gabriel Valley residents and businesses to be water wise and continue conserving water as a way of life. Through its adoption of new community-based programs and increased grassroots outreach, Upper District has taken proactive steps to further educate residents on water-saving product rebates and conservation tips and best practices. The Sustainable Landscape Demonstration Program is one of Upper District’s community-based conservation programs taking place this year. Outdoor water use accounts for the highest percentage of regional water use, and grass turf is one of the most water-thirsty plants. Thus, outdoor water use for landscaping purposes is one of the most promising targets for future water savings. To better integrate and communicate the need for low impact, sustainable outdoor landscaping, the Sustainable Landscape Demonstration Program is converting high-water-need landscapes to
Covina City Hall Demonstration Garden
Upper District encourages residents and businesses throughout the San Gabriel Valley to consider using sustainable landscaping at their own properties. Recently, the incentive rebate for turf removal was increased from $1 to $2 per-square-foot, encouraging the substitution of turf with California Friendly® plants and alternative landscape materials. As a result, requests for residential turf removal rebates increased to 2.5 million square feet during July 2014 - in comparison to 99,000 square-feet in January. This is essentially equivalent to removing 1,665 typical southland front yards! For more information on turf removal and other water-saving rebates and tips, please visit: www.socalwatersmart.com and www.bewaterwise.com.
/upperwaterdistrict
www.upperdistrict.org Director Anthony R. Fellow Director Charles M. Treviño Ph.D., President Division 1
Los Angeles News Group
Division 2
Director Ed Chavez Vice President Division 3
caDrought.com
Director Michael Touhey Secretary/Treasurer Division 4
Director Bryan Urias Division 5
The Drought 2014 | 51
CALIFORNIA IS IN A DROUGHT OUR RESERVE LEVELS ARE DROPPING
FULL
2012 2013 DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD
2014 JANUARY
EMPTY
2014 PROJECTED YEAR END
By the end of 2014, we expect the water gauge to fall into the yellow. This signals that water supplies could be restricted if the drought continues, which is why saving water is serious. Conservation helps maintain healthy reserves and a reliable water supply for the future. Thank you for your part in conserving. For conservation tips and rebate information visit bewaterwise.com速.