Digging deeper on water solutions

If your garden is anything like mine, the soils are dry, likely hydrophobic, and even your “drought-tolerant” perennials are showing stress.

The LA Times reports that we could have another dry winter — is your garden ready?

Not only for this year. But for many, many years ahead.

The ongoing process of aridification is here to stay. Sure, in the years ahead, it is possible we may get a few wetter years. However the general forecast is our L.A. climate will generally get hotter and drier, with weather weirdness growing more intense.

Meanwhile L.A.’s plan to reclaim all its wastewater at municipal scale (Ding, 2022) — which should give us some relief from current water restrictions, although it’s doubtful we’ll be back to the old “normal” — will take a decade or more to build out infrastructure and implement the plan.

In other words it’s not going to “get better” soon. We can’t just “wait it out.” Water issues are the new normal. And, if other cities around the globe are any example, the possibility of a ban on all outdoor watering may realistically be in our future too.

So, what can we do?

1. If I gave you a magic wand and you could change your garden or home to make it more water-and-heat efficient, what might you do? (Make a big dream list)
2. Here are some general ideas to help you with your big dream list …
   • compost pile, to help with building great soil
   • composting toilet
   • curb-cut-to-rain-garden
   • drip hoses
   • drip irrigation system
   • drought-tolerant fruit trees and food plants
   • drought-tolerant native plants
   • drought-tolerant shade tree(s)
   • garden sink
   • greywater shower
   • gutters-to-infiltration pit
   • laundry-to-greywater
   • low-flush toilets
   • mulch – mulch – mulch – mulch
   • ollas
   • participate in community compost hub
   • rain gutters / rain chains
   • rain tanks / rain barrels
   • sewer audit
   • shade sails
   • sunken beds / pits in garden
   • thermal drapes
   • transform lawn to garden
   • water for birds and pollinators
3. What’s the easiest, or most accessible item on your big dreams list?
4. What’s stopping you from doing it now — what’s the barrier?
5. How could you get past that barrier? Imagine (and write down) three possible ways around the barrier.

---

• Related posts about water:
  • Bucketting ; Drought-tolerant container garden ; greywater versus blackwater
• Sources:
  • Ding, J. (2022, July 17). Wastewater recycling provides hedge against drought. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-07-17/wastewater-recycling-provides-hedge-against-drought