The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutPipeline 04 - Fall 2014Nan Sterman’sPlant Soup Inc.For more class information and prices visit www.thegarden.org 11/8 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm BULBS, BEAUTIFUL BULBS Join The Garden’s Director of Horticulture and Exhibits, Clayton Tschudy, in an exploration of bulbs from Mediterranean climates around the world. You will get to help plant Paciﬁc Coast iris in The Garden’s meadow exhibit, and learn how to divide iris corms for replanting. Please wear appropriate attire for the planting experience. Class is free to members, $10.00 nonmembers. Register online at www.thegarden.org or by phone at 619-660-0614 x10. 11/15 /14 — All Day Event WATER CONSERVATION GARDEN MINI EXPO ASK THE EXPERTS 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Spend 20 minutes with a professional landscape designer to discuss how to implement your own water-saving landscape. Landscape design consultations are $20 for a 20 minute appoint-ment. Pre-registration is recommended. Register online at www.thegarden.org or by phone at 619-660-0614 x10. TOSS THE TURF10:00 am - 12:00 pm More Beauty, Less Water, More Fun! Learn how to remove your turf (lawn), evaluate your soil, and tune up your irrigation system so that you can convert a thirsty landscape into a beautiful, water-saving landscape. Members attend free, nonmembers $10.00. Registration required. FREE HOME COMPOSTING WORKSHOP10:00 am - 12:00 pm The Solana Center offers a free workshop on the basics of composting! Compost bins will be sold at subsidized prices for residents of unincorporated communities in San Diego County. Please bring ID and cash or check for bin purchase. Register at the Solana Center website www.solanacenter.org or by calling 760-436-7986 x 222. What to Grow Without Water This extended drought is forcing many people to rethink their gardens. What thrives with little if any water beyond what Mother Nature provides? Here’s a list of some of my favorites. They all prefer full sun though will grow in part shade. All do best in well draining soil but will tolerate heavier soil (like clay) if not over watered. No plants are drought tolerant the day they are planted. Irrigate with in-line drip irrigation and mulch the soil. Keep plant roots damp until established, THEN cut back. Amaryllis belladonna, naked lady bulbs make enormous, pink trumpet ﬂowers in the heat of summer. These South African natives have tall, strappy green leaves most of the year. In early summer, the leaves wither and the tall ﬂower stalk emerges to bloom .emufrep tnargarf tsom rieht esaeler srewoﬂ ,noonretfa etal eht nI .pu staeh ti ecnoPlant with the “shoulders” of the bulbs peeking out a few inches above ground. These bulbs like most others, skip ﬂowering the year after they are planted. Fremontodendron californica, Fremontia are native shrubs with gorgeous golden .sedisrednu reppoc yzzuf evah sevael neerg evilo riehT .gnirps ni srewoﬂ depahs-pucPlant far from walkways since the fuzz irritates skin. Fremontia grow from two feet tall by eight feet wide to 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide, depending on the variety. Fremontia are extremely sensitive to over watering, especially in summer. The trick to growing these plants is to plant in full sun, when the rains begin in fall. Water when you plant and never irrigate again. Sphaeralcea ambigua, desert mallow are diminutive shrubs with dusky gray-green leaves that contrast spring ﬂowers that range from bright orange to watermelon pink. Plants grow two or three feet tall and as wide – larger if they are irrigated. Bees and butterﬂies love these desert natives. After blooms fade, cut branches back by about a third and remove dead branches, too. Melaleuca elliptica .eltrym yenoh etinarg ,Granite honey myrtle makes a wonderful small tree or large shrub that eventually reaches 15 to 20 feet tall and about 15 feet wide. Branches of this beautiful evergreen have shreddy bark lined with deep blue green leaves about the size and shape of your pinky ﬁngernail. In spring and fall, bottlebrush-like raspberry colored ﬂowers form along the branches. Agave attenuata, foxtail agave is our iconic succulent with large rosettes of smooth-edged, ice green blades. Plants pup to make clusters of rosettes, reaching six feet tall and wide. People are often surprised at their scale, and plant them in too small a space. These agaves tolerate part shade and grow on no water, except maybe in the desert. Since they burn when temperatures fall much below freezing, if you live in a cool area, site them in the warmest region of your garden, or grow in a pot that can be moved when winter arrives. Selections such as ‘Nova’ and ‘Boutin Blue’ are more blue than green. ‘Ray of Light’ is a variegated form whose green leaves are edged in cream. ‘Variegata’ has more pronounced stripes. Aloe striata, coral aloe. Small, succulent rosettes grow no more than a foot tall by a foot or two wide. Pale coral colored blades feature delicate striping (striations) from tip to base. From winter to spring, two-foot tall ﬂower stalks are topped with bright coral orange ﬂowers. Fabulous when planted against large boulders. Sphaeralcea Ambigua OTAY WATER DISTRICT – Board of Directors The Board of Directors meets on the ﬁrst Wednesday of the month at 3:30 pm in the Board meeting room. The public is encouraged to attend at 2554 Sweetwater Spring Bvd., Spring Valley, CA. PresidentJose Lopez, Division 4jlopez@otaywater.gov Vice PresidentDavid Gonzalez, Division 1dgonzalez@otaywater.gov Treasurer Mitch Thompson, Division 2mthompson@otaywater.gov Board MemberGary Croucher, Division 3gcroucher@otaywater.gov Board MemberMark Robak, Division 5OtayWater@cox.net California Drought FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. I HEARD I COULD BE FINED $500 FOR WASTING WATER. WHEN AND HOW WILL YOU FINE ME THE $500? A. Otay Water District is not imposing ﬁnes at this time. The District will start water use enforcement by sending a warning letter. Customers are then given the opportunity to bring their practices into compliance after the notiﬁcation. Q. CAN WE WASH OUR CARS? A. Yes. When hand washing cars or other vehicles, using of a hose ﬁtted with a shut-off nozzle is now mandatory. Please check for city or county ordinances that prohibit wash water runoff into storm drains. Q. WHAT DAYS ARE WE ALLOWED TO WATER? A. Under a Level 2 Supply Alert, irrigation is limited to 3 days per week, and a maximum of 15 minutes per watering station. After November 1st, a maximum of 7 minutes per station is permitted. We also encourage irrigation before 10:00 a.m. and after 6:00 p.m. to minimize evaporation losses. After a rain event, consider turning off your irrigation completely. Q. WILL TAKING OUT MY GRASS BE THE BEST WAY TO KEEP MY WATER BILL LOW? A. In some areas, 50 percent or more of daily water use is for lawns. Since irrigation makes up a large portion of your bill, eliminating turf is a good way to keep your bill low. Other options include reducing the amount of irrigated turf by switching to low water use plant materials, synthetic turf, or semi-permeable surfaces. Q. WHAT REBATES ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP ME CONSERVE WATER? A. Rebates include: High Efﬁciency Clothes Washers .............$ 165.00 High Efﬁciency Toilets .......................$ 100.00 Rain Barrels ................................$ 75.00 per barrel, 4 barrel maximum Weather Based Irrigation Controllers ..........$ 140.00 under 1 irrigated acre Weather Based Irrigation Controllers ..........$ 25.00 per station over 1 irrigated acre Moisture Sensors ...........................$ 80.00 added to an irrigation controller Turf Replacement ...........................$ 3.50 per square-foot for the front yard Rotating Sprinkler Nozzles ................... $ 4.00 one rebate per residential address 15 nozzle minimum Q. HOW TO I APPLY FOR A REBATE? A. To apply for your rebate, please visit SoCalWaterSmart.Com Q. HOW DO I REPORT MY NEIGHBOR’S SPRINKLERS RUNNING TOO LONG? A. Visit our website at www.otaywater.gov or call 619-670-2730. WATER THEFT CONTACT INFORMATION Customer Service Mon. - Fri. 8am to 5pm (619) 670-2222 R EPOR TWATER THEFT Amidst the ongoing drought, water theft is becoming a growing concern to public water agencies across the state. Consistent with our efforts to keep rates low, Otay Water District will always take aggressive action to stop water theft. Preventing theft protects your water quality and your rates. When someone steals water, everyone pays. To spot potential water theft, be on the lookout for anyone tampering with a ﬁre hydrant. No one should be taking water from a ﬁre hydrant without ﬁrst acquiring a temporary meter. Examples include the operator of a water truck, or a truck and a trailer with water tanks, taking water from a ﬁre hydrant without a District approved temporary water meter. Also, individuals connecting a hose to a ﬁre hydrant or an appurtenance such as an air vacuum relief valve, or efforts to bypass a water meter, should all be reported immediately. Stealing water and tampering with the public water system are both illegal. Under the District’s Code of Ordinances, anyone found to have stolen water can be ﬁned up to $5,000 for a ﬁrst offense. Tampering with the public water system could also result in the matter being referred to the District Attorney for prosecution. If referred to the District Attorney, Otay will pursue prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. Please help protect your water supply by reporting water theft. We appreciate your help and thank you for your support. T H E O T AY W A T E R D I S T R I C T • P R O U D L Y S E R V I N G E A S T C O U N T Y A N D T H E S OUT H B AY S I N C E 195 6 A N E W S L E T T E R FOR C U S T O M E R S OF T HE O TAY WAT E R D ISTRI C T . FALL 2014 California’s Severe Drought will Continue into 2015 OTAY CALLS ON CUSTOMERS TO CONTINUE CONSERVING WATER Forecasters from the National Weather Service are predicting California’s severe drought will continue and possibly worsen in 2015. This is not good news for the state and is particularly troublesome for severely impacted areas in Northern and Central California. If these predictions hold true, the state could well be heading into its fourth straight year of extremely dry conditions. As the seasons change and we experience the cooler weather of fall, California enters its rainy season. Even in wet years, the ﬁrst few months of fall do not typically contribute much in terms of rain and snowfall to the state. December is more often the start of the season in the Sierras, the source of up to two-thirds of San Diego County’s water supply. Unfortunately, the long-term forecast suggests a slight likelihood that December could be dry as well. But even with a strong rainy season, the drought for much of California is far from over. Earlier this year, the State Water Resources Control Board approved an emergency regulation targeting outdoor water waste due to the existing dry conditions. Otay’s Board of Directors and many other Southern California water districts followed suit by adopting a Level 2 Supply Alert. When the drought status advances to a Supply Alert, water conservation measures become mandatory. Locally these measures were aimed at keeping more water in storage should the drought extend into 2015, which now seems likely. As dry conditions ravage Northern California and the Central Valley, San Diego County has been largely spared the worst effects of the drought. The reason is local water agencies have planned for drought, have a more diversiﬁed supply, and we are constantly striving to make our water supply even more reliable. For example, local water agencies have invested extensively in conservation, water recycling, groundwater, and recently approved construction of the largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere, which is set to come online before the end of 2015. Our region also gets its water from two primary sources: Northern California through the State Water Project and from the Colorado River. Along the Colorado River, 2014 was a near normal year in terms of precipitation. Even though Lakes Powell and Mead are at close to historic low levels, 2014 saw a slight improvement in conditions compared to recent years with precipitation, snowpack and inﬂows to the Colorado River at near normal levels. Of course, this doesn’t mean we can ignore the drought in our state. If the forecasts hold true, San Diego will once again lose most if not all of its allocation from the State Water Project, which accounts for a signiﬁcant portion of our water supply. To make up for shortfalls and to meet customer demand, water wholesalers have been drawing down heavily on limited reserves. To keep water in storage, mandatory water conservation remains in effect. Conserving water is easy. For instance, use a spray nozzle when washing cars or hand-watering outdoor plants. Irrigate early in the morning or after sunset to avoid water lost to evaporation. US Drought Monitor CALIFORNIA INTENSITY Abnormally Dry Moderate Drought Severe Drought Extreme Drought Exceptional Drought The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scale conditions. Local conditions may vary. Cutback on your outdoor irrigation as the cooler temperatures of fall arrive. Wash full loads of laundry or dishes. And be sure to visit our website at www.otaywater.gov to take advantage of water savings rebates and incentives. Remember, every time you use water, you have an opportunity to conserve. As we look to 2015 and a possible fourth straight year of drought, we want to thank customers for their continued efforts to save water and eliminate waste. Continued conservation now and in the coming months will help to keep water in reserve and could help avert allocations or shortages in 2015 and beyond. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OTAY WATER DISTRICT CALL 619.670.2222 OR GO TO WWW.OTAYWATER.GOV The Pipeline Newsletter is published quarterly by the Otay Water District and can also be found online at www.otaywater.gov. Copyright © 2014 Otay Water District. All rights reserved. FOLLOW OTAY WATER ON... / SIGA AL DISTRITO DE AGUA DE OTAY EN... Los expertos pronostican que la sequía severa en California continuará en 2015 OTAY EXHORTA A SUS CLIENTES A QUE CONTINÚEN CONSERVANDO AGUA Los expertos del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional pronostican que la sequía severa en California continuará y posiblemente va a empeorar en 2015. Estas no son buenas noticias para el estado y es particularmente problemático en ciertas áreas severamente impactadas en el norte y centro de California. Si estos pronósticos se cumplen, el estado podría encaminarse hacia su cuarto año consecutivo de condiciones extremadamente secas. Conforme cambian las estaciones y experimentamos un clima más frío en el otoño, California comienza su temporada de lluvias. Aún en los años lluviosos, los primeros meses del otoño no contribuyen signiﬁcativamente al estado en términos de volumen de lluvia y nieve. El mes de diciembre es el que comienza, con mayor frecuencia, la temporada en las Sierras, la fuente de las dos terceras partes del suministro de agua del Condado de San Diego. Desafortunadamente, el pronóstico a largo plazo indica una ligera probabilidad de que diciembre va a ser seco también. Pero aún teniendo una fuerte temporada de lluvias, la sequía en gran parte de California está lejos de terminar. A principios de este año, el Consejo Estatal de Control de Recursos Hidráulicos aprobó una regulación de emergencia enfocándose en el desperdicio de agua en exteriores debido a la existencia de condiciones secas. La Junta Directiva de Otay y muchos otros distritos de agua del sur de California sentaron precedente mediante la adopción del Nivel 2, estado de alerta por escasez del suministro de agua. Cuando el estatus de sequía avanza a alerta por escasez de suministro de agua, las medidas de conservación son obligatorias. A nivel local estas medidas tenían por objetivo aumentar el almacenamiento de agua en caso de que la sequía continuara hasta el 2015, lo cual parece probable. Conforme las condiciones secas devastan el norte de California y el Valle Central, el Condado de San Diego se ha librado de los peores efectos de la sequía. La razón principal es que las agencias locales del agua han hecho planes para la temporada de sequía; han diversiﬁcado las fuentes de suministro; y están constantemente esforzándose para hacer que nuestro suministro de agua sea cada vez más conﬁable. Por ejemplo, las agencias locales del agua han invertido extensivamente en la conservación, reciclaje del agua, aguas subterráneas, y la recién aprobada construcción de la planta desalinizadora más grande del hemisferio occidental la cual se espera que entre en operación antes de que termine el año 2015. Nuestra región obtiene su agua de dos fuentes principales: Norte de California a través del Proyecto Estatal de Agua y del Río Colorado. El 2014 fue un año casi normal en términos de precipitación a lo largo del Río Colorado. Aún cuando los Lagos Powell y Mead están casi llegando a niveles históricamente bajos, el año 2014 en comparación con los últimos años vio una ligera mejoría en cuanto a condiciones de precipitación, nieve acumulada y aﬂuencia de agua en el Río Colorado alcanzando niveles casi normales. Desde luego, esto no signiﬁca que vamos a ignorar la sequía en nuestro estado. Si los pronósticos se cumplen, San Diego va a perder nuevamente la mayoría, si no la totalidad, de su adjudicación de agua proveniente del Proyecto Estatal de Agua lo cual representa una parte importante de nuestro suministro de agua. Para compensar el déﬁcit y satisfacer la demanda de los consumidores, los mayoristas de agua han estado disminuyendo en gran medida las limitadas reservas. Para mantener el agua almacenada, las medidas de conservación de agua obligatorias permanecen en efecto. Monitor de sequía de los EE.UU. CALIFORNIA INTENSIDAD Anormalmente seco Sequía moderada Sequía severa Sequía extrema Sequía excepcional El monitor de sequía se concentra en una amplia escala de condiciones. Las condiciones locales pueden variar. Conservar agua es fácil. Por ejemplo utilice una boquilla de rociado cuando lave sus automóviles o riegue a mano sus plantas del exterior. Riegue temprano en la mañana o después de la puesta del sol para evitar la pérdida de agua causada por la evaporación. Reduzca el riego en exteriores conforme se aproximan las temperaturas bajas del otoño. Lave cargas completas de ropa o trastes. Asegúrese de visitar nuestra página de internet www.otaywater.gov para aprovechar los reembolsos e incentivos para el ahorro de agua. Recuerde, cada vez que usted utiliza el agua, usted tiene una oportunidad de conservar. Mientras miramos hacia el 2015 y a un posible cuarto año consecutivo de sequía, queremos agradecer a nuestros clientes por sus esfuerzos continuos para ahorrar agua y eliminar el desperdicio. La conservación continúa ahora y en los próximos meses ayudará a mantener las reservas de agua y podría prevenir adjudicaciones o la escasez del vital líquido en 2015 y años venideros.