esrosedotblog

I am happy to report that my State now leads the nation in water conservation.

And this is not because we did anything since the drought started. We started 20 years and more ago.

How California is Winning the Drought

It is interesting that we started lowering our water use in the condo association well before the recent mandated cuts. We are ahead of the targets.

And we have grass. Not so much. Not so green. Not so good looking.

The trees are OK though. We have lots of trees.

I believe that the grass is never going to come back. Some think that the roots will revive but I think not. The bermuda grass is seasonal and when the season is over it will go dormant. More bare spots.

They had been using annual rye. The worst. More water for the seeding over and over again.

We will slowly replace the grass with desert. So called desert appropriate. Well, I will go further. I would like to see desert desert.

It surrounds us. Our oasis is entirely man made although we do sit on a large aquifer we are loathe to use it.

For us it is the golf courses that must change. Some of them are. Less and less grass. More and more rough.

Golf is an industry here but we will have to give it up or find a way to keep the balls from bouncing on hard pan.

Not my problem.

The other thing is that up to now there has been extreme over watering. The grass we still have is doing rather well with every other day once a night watering.

Some people are nuts about this though. They are watering their own lawns which are not theirs but belong to the condo association. It will go through their meter and on their bill.

Soon, we will have extremely tiered billing. They are working on it now. The more you use the more you will pay per gallon. Putting a stopper to a lot of it.

When we got to Palm Springs, the streets would run with water. Now, if you have water in the street it is a disgrace. Not to say it does not happen. Sprinklers break. But it is a sure sign of a need to fix the errant plumbing. A sign of trouble, not a sign of plenty.

Our latest step is fake grass out front on the patio. A small patch when properly littered with leaves and shit doesn't look fake. And it is fading. Also no plants along the wall just little round balls. Different sizes and colors.

I have one hibiscus, a big one, and a bunch of cacti. Carefully hand watered. A lantana. Dry plants all.

It is not that we need to go to none. Just less.

This is not ours. But it is an idea of the possibilities.

Labels: drought, landscaping