Sunday, April 19, 2015
Dry
The California drought is quite real.
We can feel or see the effects daily.
The first and most shocking sight are the bare mountains to the north. No snow cover. None. A wisp near the top might be snow but I am not going up there to check it out.
The other water we cannot see or detect is underground. Huge natural aquifers and settling basins for our share of Colorado River water. About 150 miles away. Huge canals built as work projects during the depression. You know, the big depression.
We are dealing with it in our condo association. But not very well.
Curtailing the watering of grass is not just a matter of cosmetics. The grass holds down the sand and the watering keeps the grass there.
Our solution is to irrigate lightly. A lot of the grass is already brown.
Speaking of which, Governor Brown wants a reduction of 25-35%. Good luck at measuring that. For those of us who started reductions long ago, this figure is basically a wipe out of water use.
I am not whining. A conversion to desert landscaping is not that hard to do. It is a little pricey, but not many people have the money to spend on it.
We offer an incentive to people who want to do the part in front of their house. Some have done this but it is a mess in my opinion. First of all, they all look like something out of a kids book. Lined up cacti and pretty gravel. River stone. The nearest river? The same fifty miles I mention above. Desert stone, shale, is not as pretty for some.
I am surprised to be a bit of a holdout. We have gone to no cactus inside our small patio. Also one whole section is going to be 12 inch and 18 inch balls made of different materials. I hope it looks good. We will be trying them out today.
I do have a cactus garden as well. It needs water. Some. In the back of the unit, another patio with very green "tropical" plants. I have done nothing with these either. Just water them more sparely.
This problem will be the subject of many condo board meetings. One citizen has already squealed to the mayor that we are watering at night. This is just wrong. So we are getting a visit from some bureaucrat at the next Board meeting.
I hate to sound bratty about this but I hate intervention by small clerks and "regulators". It is just fucking annoying. But I will be nice. And quiet. And listen. And be judicious and, well, if possible a good citizen in a bad drought.
Did I mention that as we cut the watering of grass some owners now go out and use their hose for their own piece of grass? Which is not theirs. It belongs to the HOA.
