Capturing rain
Simple steps such as redirecting water from downspouts into permeable beds prevent rainwater from reaching streets, where it picks up a host of pollutants before exiting the storm system into the Pacific. Source: TreePeople
From Reuters via Aquafornia: Despite threats by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to kill all of the 704 bills on his desk unless legislators reached an agreement, the Governor decided to approve SB 790, also known as the Stormwater Resource Planning Act. SB 790 creates a new framework encouraging California municipalities to address the stormwater issues in a new way. It encourages municipalities to manage stormwater for beneficial uses such as augmenting water supply, preventing floods, mitigating stormwater pollution, creating green space and enhancing wildlife habitat. To keep reading, click here.
It’s too late for Angelenos who presently direct rainwater from their property into the street to do much in advance of a large storm now …
The Dry Garden: Irises happen
IN THE fleeting scheme of nature, irises happen. This story is about a concentration of them in Moorpark.
Part of a larger family of that includes lilies, crocuses and gladiolas, irises are native to many parts of the world. The fire-prone hills of southern Ventura County are not one of them, nurseryman Bob Sussman says. It’s too hot. He reckons that their native range in California ends roughly in Santa Barbara.
Yet irises started appearing in Moorpark in numbers when Sussman began breeding them here five years ago.
To keep reading this week’s Los Angeles Times column “The Dry Garden” click here…
Image of the day
Click here to be taken to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s satellite imaging of water vapor over the US…
Rain in Los Angeles
- Thursday sunny, high 80F
Click on the icons to be taken to the National Weather Service. This post was last updated at 6.40pm, October 13th, 2009.…
That old threat?
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last night dropped threats to veto more than 700 bills unless the legislature brought him a water package to his liking. Rather, saying a deal was near, he declared the legislature in special session.
While the official reversal was more dignified than the Tweet that the Governor sent out reading, “going all out, signing two bills at once,” the proclamation for a special session itself is loaded.
Even if the governor enjoyed the consensus necessary to resolve differences over whether or not to build a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the proclamation makes a difficult task all but impossible.* It bundles with a Delta fix demands for two previously rejected dam projects — current estimated costs between $4 and $5bn.
The Los Angeles Times has the story on some of what got signed and what didn’t.
UPDATE: *Politicians disagree and are out in …
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