Calif. moves to kill the lawn, save the water
LONG BEACH, Calif. — What’s it going to take to get people to use a lot less water in drought-stricken California, the Technicolor landscape of lush yards, emerald golf courses and aquamarine swimming pools?
Residents may be about to find out as California imposes the first mandatory statewide water-use restrictions later this year.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered a 25 percent overall cutback in water use by cities and towns, but not farms, in the most sweeping drought measures ever undertaken by the nation’s most populous state.
The crackdown comes as California and its nearly 40 million residents move toward a fourth summer of drought with no relief in sight. State reservoirs have a year’s worth of water, and with record low snowfall over the winter there won’t be much to replenish them. Wells in some parts of the state are going dry as groundwater levels fall.
On Thursday, retired secretary Brenda Johnson stood in the doorway of her Sacramento home contemplating her lovingly tended lawn and azalea bushes. Johnson did not love the idea of brown as the new green.
“With the money I put into it, I don’t want it to go dry,” Johnson said.
Homeowners will get rebates for replacing lawns with greenery more suited to the semi-arid state and for installing more water-thrifty appliances and plumbing fixtures. The state also will press water agencies to impose higher, graduated rates to discourage water guzzling.
Cemeteries, golf courses and business headquarters must cut back significantly on watering the grass and shrubs. And new homes will not be allowed to use drinking water for irrigation unless they have water-stingy drip systems.
Homeowners and water districts that violate the rules will be subject to fines.
State water officials stress it’s the lush, green blades of grass they are after.
“When it is all said and done, what we are asking is that they cut back dramatically on their outdoor watering,” said George Kostyrko, spokesman for the state Water Resources Control Board.