By Matthew Artz
Published: March 18, 2011
Fremont – Maintaining a nice lawn takes a lot of effort and H2O, but doing away with one is surprisingly easy. All it takes is cardboard to cover the grass, some dirt, a few native plants, a sprinkling of mulch. In about a month’s time – voila – no more lawn.
Who would do such a thing?
Hopefully everyody, local water officials say.
Read more: Bay Area News Group, March 18, 2011
By Francesca Vietor
Posted January 24, 2011
Water, water, everywhere. Reservoirs are overflowing, utilities are beaming and skiers are ecstatic. The City and County of San Francisco is experiencing the wettest year-to-date on record, and we are only half way through January.
Read more: The Huffington Post
San Jose homeowner Joanne Curme was tired of her lawn and its never-ending cycle of mow-weed-water-repeat. Kim Tarman of San Ramon longed for a yard with vibrant colors. And Arvind Kumar of San Jose had had it with broken sprinkler heads and dead splotches of lawn.
All three ditched their conventional lawns and joined the growing number of Bay Area residents replacing their grass yards with drought-resistant plants and California natives.
Read more at San Jose Mercury News
Draft of FY 09-10 Annual Survey
John Boyle, a 51-year-old venture capitalist in Menlo Park, built a new home on his property more than a decade ago largely to create a big lawn where his children could play football or baseball.
Read more at The New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — Julie Labonte didn’t know what her high-achieving career as a water engineer held in store for her as she bounded down Mount Kilimanjaro in 2005, propelled by gravity, in the midst of a yearlong globetrot.
The Canadian-born, U.S.-trained engineer had walked away from an illustrious career with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for a multi-continental jaunt, peppered with frequent climbs of rugged mountains.
While working for the SFPUC — which oversees such services as water and sewers around the region — in San Francisco and its suburbs over a decade, Labonte had managed fluoridation of the water supply, a water treatment plant, utilities strategies for major redevelopment projects and massive sewer improvements.
Water is in short supply for many cities, farms and businesses across California and will remain so for the foreseeable future. In San Mateo County, water customers are being asked to continue efforts to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10 percent as we experience our third dry year. Reducing water use in the home is an easy way to meet this 10 percent voluntary reduction target and can save you money on your water, and possibly energy and sewer bills as well.
Read more at the San Mateo Daily Journal.