Water Wise

       

Waiting on water use isn't wise
Re "Get tough on water use", Editorial Feb. 2 Los Angeles Times

       The "get tough" admonition is more than welcome. We should worry about the surprisingly complacent views expressed by Southern California water officials. We have enough water, the say. No problem yet.
This is not only complacent but irresponsible. Are we to wait until a severe crisis? We would be better served by some (perhaps painful) advance planning.
Raise water rates. Use the revenue for water recycling, rainwater capture, groundwater replenishment and conservation, among other things.
Update usage regulations to curb our wasteful habits and then enforce them.
Work with regional authorities to ensure Southern California's access to imported water.
      Above all, do something now. Don't wait until it is too late.

       -W.R. Frederick
        Tarzana

       And the hills are brown in February.

Above: O'Melveny Park in Granada Hills 2/3/2014. The native plants are hanging on despite the drought, the non-native grasses not so much, and it's time for So Cal residents and the water managers to get the message.

One Garden at a Time

Go Native

Re "Slaking SoCal's thirst," Opinion, Jan.23

       Metropolitan Water District of Southern California chief Jeffrey Kightlinger omits an important part of the demand side of the water equation: the need to use less water for residential landscape irrigation. Low-flow toilets and shower heads aren't enough.
         Half of residential water use in Southern California is for landscape purposes such as keeping our lawns green. But the nonnative green lawn is inappropriate for a region that averages just 15 inches of rain annually. Native California plants, once established, use about one-seventh as much water as a green lawn. Birds, butterflies, native bee species and many other native insects and animals depend on plants that belong in our local ecosystem. Additional benefits of native gardens include reduced runoff, no fertilizer use and reduced lawn waste to be collected.
      It's time to reclaim the California environment for native species, one garden at a time.
     
            -Daniel Fink
             Beverly Hills

The writer is a board member at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants Inc.

from Los Angeles Times, Letters,  Sunday January 26, 2014

*Spotted my first wildflower of the season, one Blue Dick (Dichelostemma capitatum), while trekking through O'melveny Park in Granada Hills today.