My grandfather, like many community minded people, read the local newspaper every day. He also took the Wall Street Journal. A successful businessman, a golfer-par-excellence, a self-made man who, with a 6th grade education raised four children and was a grandfather 19 times over always drove a Chevrolet instead of a Cadillac because he "didn't want people to know how much money he had."
I think of my grandfather, born in 1900, when I think about how much the world has changed and how much it has remained the same. I read the local paper every day as well. And although I think the Wall Street Journal is a good paper, I choose, instead, to read The New York Times.
The political differences, perhaps, would seem obvious. And then again maybe not. My grandfather was conservative in the pre-Reagan era. He supported small business and abhored Big Business. He succeeded in business through intelligence, foresight and caring about his clients. I remember hearing a story when I was a child recounting his actions to assist some of his customers make their monthly insurance premium payments because "times were hard." Everyone paid him back, or didn't. He kept his customers' welfare and well-being at the center of his insurance and real estate business models.
So my grandfather was a conservative. Simple guidelines prevailed: don't spend more than you have; invest in the future; abandon greed--it is a shortcut with disastrous consequences. Oh, and this: pass something of value on to the next generation.
Thursday, July 22, 2010 The Desert Sun featured a headline that caught more than my passing interest: "Study: County's Water Supply at Risk". The lead article in that day's paper provided two narrative lines. One, global warming studies project the Southwest and The Great Plains States will, by the year 2050,experience an "extremely high risk" of water shortage "strangling economic development, agricultural production and affect communities", at an estimated cost 14 times greater than previously projected. The second and more illusory narrative was simple: in some arid regions," including California and it's agricultural areas, water withdrawal is greater than 100% of the available precipitation." That's today. Not 2050.
Which narrative are we to discuss? Global warming and all the uncertainties surrounding the climate change debate--a deeply politicized issue--or the fact that we in the valley continue to use more water than is sustainable?
110 years after his birth I think my grandfather and I would still have something to talk about. In all likelihood he would question climate change, but certainly he would raise his hand at the local country club and say: " Enough! Let's do something about this." And he would have done something about this.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
HOA WATER CONSERVATION EFFORT
Shadow Mountain Palm Desert (click link to the left) offers water saving measures in their landscaping efforts.
See their newsletter for an informative perspective on the subject.
See their newsletter for an informative perspective on the subject.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
HOA Water Conservation: Spotlight on Regency Estates
Proactive and Informative report from this exemplary HOA for their efforts. Visit their report here.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Coachella Valley Water District Speaks to the Cathedral City HOA Presidents Council
(Excerpt from Cathedral City HOA Presidents Council meeting March 25, 2010.) Website here.
Guest Speaker - Dave Koller "Strategies for Meeting Your Tiered Rates Water Budget"
Dave pointed out that CVWD will deliver 750 gallons of water to your home for about $1. If a customer were to buy 750 gallons of water in plastic bottles if would cost about $5,000.
CVWD initiated tiered rates for residential customers in June 2009 and for HOAs in September 2009. They are quite confident in the accuracy of the model they used to establish the water budgets for HOAs. The main problems encountered by HOAs are with the computation of their landscaped areas. When a problem is identified by a customer, they have worked with that customer to improve the accuracy of their estimates. There are some things that are not apparent in the aerial photographs that their technicians use for determining landscaped area.
The program appears to be working well. They had a 20% decrease in water sales during this past winter. Approximately 74% of HOAs are within their water budgets. They apply the tiered rate to the combination of all meters within a HOA. This results in a lower overall cost than applying it to each meter separately.
This is intended to address the current problems due to the draw down of the aquifer below the Coachella Valley. It now contains approximately 30 million acre-feet of water. It is now dropping at a rate of approximately 3 feet per year. This is causing immediate problems in the East end of the valley with subsidence. The long term problem is that if it continues we will run out of water someday.
CVWD has an allocation of 300,000 acre-feet of water from the California Water Project. There is no connection from the Project to the valley. So they have traded their allocation to the Metropolitan Water District for 300,000 acre-feet of their allocation of Colorado River water.
The water budget is computed based on outdoor water use for HOAs. It is the landscaped area (total area less area covered by structures, sidewalks, paving and other improvements) multiplied by a daily weather factor. The weather factor takes into account the length of the day, temperature, wind speed and humidity. It is a measure of evapotransformation - the amount of water required for turf to live under the specific combination of weather conditions. If an HOA has desert landscaping, not turf, they should stay well within their water budget.
The tiered rates are structured as follows:
* Tier 1 - Residential customers only
* Tier 2 - Usage within water budget
* Tier 3 - Usage above 105% of water budget
* Tier 4 - Usage above 150% of water budget
* Tier 5 - Usage above 250% of water budget
He pointed out that brown spots are not necessarily a bad thing. Normally they are a result of poor sprinkler coverage. This is often caused by shrubbery blocking spray, bad sprinkler heads, sprinkler heads tilted or the wrong type of sprinkler heads for the application. HOAs should focus on adjusting sprinkler coverage when they see brown spots.
Once brown spots are eliminated they should start incrementally reducing their watering times until the landscaped area starts to become stressed, then increase the time slightly - this would be efficient water use.
Tell homeowners during the process not to freak out, you are trying to increase your efficiency of water use.
CVWD has established a "Turf Buy Back" program in Palm Desert, Indian Wells and La Quinta. Cathedral City is still only considering it due to budget constraints. The program will pay $2 per square foot of turf removed next to curbs and driveways. For turf removed within 2 feet of a curb or driveway it will pay up to $5,000. For removal of all turf between a curb and a wall it will pay up to $10,000.
They also have a nozzle rebate program. Replacement of current nozzles with appropriate "new generation" nozzles that minimize runoff. The program will reimburse up to $1,000 per HOA
There is a smart controller program that will reimburse HOAs up to $750 per acre or 1/2 the cost of each controller upgraded. HOAs typically experience a 45% savings in water costs after the installation of smart controllers.
They are having a seminar for homeowners on water usage Tuesday, March 30th 6 - 8 PM at the UC Riverside Campus in Palm Desert. Cost $10.
They are having classes for professional irrigators in June. June 9th in English. June 16th in Spanish. Cost $50. Names of professional irrigators that have completed the classes are available on their website www.cvwd.org
Guest Speaker - Dave Koller "Strategies for Meeting Your Tiered Rates Water Budget"
Dave pointed out that CVWD will deliver 750 gallons of water to your home for about $1. If a customer were to buy 750 gallons of water in plastic bottles if would cost about $5,000.
CVWD initiated tiered rates for residential customers in June 2009 and for HOAs in September 2009. They are quite confident in the accuracy of the model they used to establish the water budgets for HOAs. The main problems encountered by HOAs are with the computation of their landscaped areas. When a problem is identified by a customer, they have worked with that customer to improve the accuracy of their estimates. There are some things that are not apparent in the aerial photographs that their technicians use for determining landscaped area.
The program appears to be working well. They had a 20% decrease in water sales during this past winter. Approximately 74% of HOAs are within their water budgets. They apply the tiered rate to the combination of all meters within a HOA. This results in a lower overall cost than applying it to each meter separately.
This is intended to address the current problems due to the draw down of the aquifer below the Coachella Valley. It now contains approximately 30 million acre-feet of water. It is now dropping at a rate of approximately 3 feet per year. This is causing immediate problems in the East end of the valley with subsidence. The long term problem is that if it continues we will run out of water someday.
CVWD has an allocation of 300,000 acre-feet of water from the California Water Project. There is no connection from the Project to the valley. So they have traded their allocation to the Metropolitan Water District for 300,000 acre-feet of their allocation of Colorado River water.
The water budget is computed based on outdoor water use for HOAs. It is the landscaped area (total area less area covered by structures, sidewalks, paving and other improvements) multiplied by a daily weather factor. The weather factor takes into account the length of the day, temperature, wind speed and humidity. It is a measure of evapotransformation - the amount of water required for turf to live under the specific combination of weather conditions. If an HOA has desert landscaping, not turf, they should stay well within their water budget.
The tiered rates are structured as follows:
* Tier 1 - Residential customers only
* Tier 2 - Usage within water budget
* Tier 3 - Usage above 105% of water budget
* Tier 4 - Usage above 150% of water budget
* Tier 5 - Usage above 250% of water budget
He pointed out that brown spots are not necessarily a bad thing. Normally they are a result of poor sprinkler coverage. This is often caused by shrubbery blocking spray, bad sprinkler heads, sprinkler heads tilted or the wrong type of sprinkler heads for the application. HOAs should focus on adjusting sprinkler coverage when they see brown spots.
Once brown spots are eliminated they should start incrementally reducing their watering times until the landscaped area starts to become stressed, then increase the time slightly - this would be efficient water use.
Tell homeowners during the process not to freak out, you are trying to increase your efficiency of water use.
CVWD has established a "Turf Buy Back" program in Palm Desert, Indian Wells and La Quinta. Cathedral City is still only considering it due to budget constraints. The program will pay $2 per square foot of turf removed next to curbs and driveways. For turf removed within 2 feet of a curb or driveway it will pay up to $5,000. For removal of all turf between a curb and a wall it will pay up to $10,000.
They also have a nozzle rebate program. Replacement of current nozzles with appropriate "new generation" nozzles that minimize runoff. The program will reimburse up to $1,000 per HOA
There is a smart controller program that will reimburse HOAs up to $750 per acre or 1/2 the cost of each controller upgraded. HOAs typically experience a 45% savings in water costs after the installation of smart controllers.
They are having a seminar for homeowners on water usage Tuesday, March 30th 6 - 8 PM at the UC Riverside Campus in Palm Desert. Cost $10.
They are having classes for professional irrigators in June. June 9th in English. June 16th in Spanish. Cost $50. Names of professional irrigators that have completed the classes are available on their website www.cvwd.org
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Latest Happenings
Over the next two weeks, we are undertaking a step-by-step process to evaluate how HOA's can begin to make a difference in their landscape water usage. Watch for interviews with water agency representatives, landscape architects, designers and contractors. And if we're lucky, maybe a few of the local government officials will share what they are doing to keep our Valley "Green".
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Municipalities Help HOA's
Forums are a practical and enlightening venue for discussion of community issues. This link demonstrates what was available to San Juan Capistrano residents. And I am sure your local government has something to offer, too.
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