The Drought in California

The Drought in California is very bad - driest year on record for many areas:
http://www.acwa.com/content/local-drought-response

The impact is hard to imagine, even for those who live in California. I was shocked to see the bottom of the San Leandro Reservoir a couple of weeks ago - even after seeing these Before and After photos that were published in January:
http://www.weather.com/news/stunning-photos-californias-lakes-depleted-extreme-drought-20140123?pageno=1

Governor Brown declared a state of emergency in January, and at that time, asked residents to voluntarily cut back water consumption by 20%:
http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/declaration.cfm

The response was spotty; some districts reduced consumption while others increased:
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25090363/california-drought-water-use-varies-widely-around-state

Overall, usage went down about 1% - not enough. So mid-July, the state approved $500-a-day fines for hosing down sidewalks, watering to the point of runoff, or washing your car without a shutoff nozzle.

The water supply system is a convoluted mess. The result is dramatically different conservation measures depending on where you live, even for neighboring communities. For example, EBMUD (East Bay Municipal Utility District) supplies all the cities in the East Bay:
http://www.watereducation.org/general-information/other-major-water-systems

But each municipality contracts service from one of hundreds of different suppliers:

http://library.ucr.edu/wrca/grants/districts.html

Alameda County Water District notified Fremont, Union City, and Newark businesses and residents of mandatory restrictions - with fines - back in March:
http://www.acwd.org/

While just north of Fremont, the City of Hayward is still on voluntary conservation until August 1st. Our water is purchased from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission:
http://www.hayward-ca.gov/GREEN-HAYWARD/WATER-CONSERVATION/

Many refer to "the drought" in terms of this year, or the cumulative impact over the past 3 years:

http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2014/03/18/into-the-drought-californias-shrinking-reservoirs/

But the data point to this particular downward trend starting in 1998 - right after the last big El Nino event:

http://ca.water.usgs.gov/data/drought/runoff.html

I say "particular", because historically, California has experienced droughts that last hundreds of years (credit to M. Tsui).

Regardless of the debate over climate change and global warming, the dramatic increase in population over the past 100 years means we have to use our resources wisely. Humans can live without food for 46 to 73 days, but we will die in 3 to 5 days without water.

Of course in California, it's all very political:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/15/5309350/california-25-billion-plan-to-save-delta

Some sources estimate that agriculture uses 80% of the water supply:

http://pacinst.org/publication/ca-water-supply-solutions/

So the question is: how much is 20% of 20% really going to help, especially in light of the long-term trend?  

Personally, I don't think the politics warrant letting a water-wise garden die. We need plants and trees to process our emissions and pollutants, and hold the soil against wind and rain - especially after a fire. Native plants use less water than lawn, and hold moisture in the soil to support an entire community.  

Green lawns in California happen in spring. It's called a "meadow".  A green lawn in August is an un-natural occurrence that demands copious amounts of water and chemical fertilizer poisoning our ground water, streams, and ocean while stealing valuable real estate from the native plants that provide much needed food and shelter to birds, butterflies, bees, lizards, frogs, etc.

We started replacing our lawn, bit by bit, 10 years ago, when the last drought kicked our ass.

Ironically, the most generously funded Lawn Be Gone programs seem to be sponsored by the most affluent communities:

http://www.menlopark.org/332/Lawn-Be-Gone-Program

But you really don't have to "landscape" all at once. Wildflowers are a time honored tradition to brown dirt in my neighborhood - and they come back year after year! I like Renee's scatter gardens:
http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/scattercans.html

Save the World!  Grow Flowers!