The week that was, 5/16-22/2010
Posted on | May 23, 2010 | No Comments
On May 18, 2010, Judge Oliver Wanger of the Easter District Court in Fresno, CA, intimated that water reserved under the Endangered Species Act in the San Fancisco Bay Delta system to aid fish migrating through its tributaries may be diverted to Central Valley farms and Southern California cities because of the impact of fish protections on water users. A subsequent ruling is expected this week.
It is in the public interest that relief be granted to Plaintiffs, who represent a substantial population of water users in California, to enhance the water supply to reduce the adverse harms of destruction of permanent crops; fallowed lands; increased groundwater consumption; land subsidence; reduction of air quality; destruction of family and entity farming business; and social disruption and dislocation, such as increased property crimes and intra-family crimes of violence; adverse effects on schools and increased unemployment leading to hunger and homelessness. This must be done without jeopardizing the species and their critical habitat. — Judge Oliver Wanger, “Findings of facts and conclusions of law,” The Consolidated Salmonid Cases, Eastern District Court, May 18, 2010
Salmon are now being blamed for domestic violence? Fish cause property damage and are the cause of California’s failing schools? Really? Where is the evidence to support these findings? Have we lost all perspective? — “Salmon cause crime and hurt schools?” On the Waterfront, May 19, 2010 via Aquafornia
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The Dry Garden: Descanso in recovery
Posted on | May 21, 2010 | No Comments
Schematic from the Long Range Conceptual Plan for Descanso Gardens developed with the Portico Group. Click on the drawing to be taken to the Seattle company's master plan for Descanso.
Nowhere in the West is sustainable gardening a harder sell than in Southern California. Public gardens preach conservation, but their grounds are surrounded by turf. The message to visitors: Eastern-style, highly irrigated gardening is not just OK here, it’s the way it’s done.
And so, it is beyond refreshing, more like happy dance exciting, that Descanso Gardens has begun what will be a long-range overhaul in which water conservation is the central theme. The messaging will start with the landscaping.
A 237-page review, grandly titled a “Long Range Conceptual Plan,” outlines what will one day be a sweeping overhaul with a paean to water. “The structure of the garden plants, native and introduced, is informed by water. The Gardens’ cultural heritage and current concerns center on the need for and use of water. Therefore this Long Range Conceptual Plan was informed – and shaped – by water.”
Click here to keep reading The Dry Garden in the Los Angeles Times. Or click below for my response to some of the Times’s reader comments to the piece.
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Waterman
Posted on | May 19, 2010 | 1 Comment
Click on the image to read about Powell's new book from National Geographic
From the Pasadena-based NPR affiliate KPCC: “In the spring of 2008, author and National Geographic grantee Jonathan Waterman launched a journey by boat and by foot down the Colorado River. His 1,450-mile trip began at the river’s source in Rocky Mountain National Park and followed the river through the Sonoran desert and the parched Mexican delta, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The Colorado River supplies water for more that 30 million people and 3 million farm acres and is the most diverted and litigated river in the world. Through his journey, John Waterman gets to the heart of the complex issues facing the river whose water levels have dipped to an all-time low. His book examines the impact of the Colorado’s peril on a vast region and looks at the immense debate over water use in the American West.”
Click here to listen to Waterman interviewed today by KPCC’s Larry Mantle.
“Waterblogged”
Posted on | May 19, 2010 | 1 Comment
The People issue of LA Weekly, online tonight, on stands tomorrow, includes Chance of Rain’s Emily Green, photo left. The surrounding garden, including the photo detail with native sages and a Mediterranean olive, are part of an 8,700 square foot lot with a small house in central Los Angeles where water consumption has been reduced largely through landscape changes from 150 gallons per day to 50. Lushness is achieved through use of mediterranean climate plants and aggressive rainwater harvesting. All but the vegetable garden and fruit trees will go dormant — and unwatered — in the summer. Emily Green’s column on water conservation in the landscape, The Dry Garden, appears every Friday online in the Los Angeles Times.
Miss Emily regrets
Posted on | May 18, 2010 | 4 Comments
… that she will not be logging onto Facebook today. MoveOn.org has an interesting drive aimed at improving Facebook’s privacy policy. I upgraded my privacy guarantee independently by today deleting my account. Those interested in this site’s updates, largely from the worlds of water and gardening, may elect to follow links on Twitter, or not. To those Facebook friends who found themselves deleted, it was nothing personal, which was precisely the problem. UPDATE: For MoveOn.org’s latest Facebook statement, click here.
North American Native Plant Societies
After the lawn
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