Leading by Example
By Vesta Copestakes
We're all familiar with the cliché "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." It's probably one of the most challenging aspects of being a leader - getting people to cooperate with actions that you deem appropriate or even necessary, such as water conservation. Our county supervisors say they aren't going to mandate water conservation locally because the state already has demanded that Sonoma County show some serious effort on programs to conserve water and the county feels they are meeting that mandate.
Are the recent series of water conservation ads sufficient to motivate people to conserve? Are high water rates that some municipalities are charging motivating people to use less water? From what I can tell, these "efforts" are falling on deaf ears.
People who care - and who know - are conserving already. The most difficult aspect of watching their water consumption is that they have always been conservative about water use and any less use showing up on their bills only makes later charges for increased water use an additional burden.
People who use a lot of water are continuing to do so as if this was a normal rain year. And some figure they have enough money to pay the higher rates so they'll just keep using whatever water they want. That may work for people with plenty of money, but where does that leave poor people when rates go up in an effort to force the public in general to use less water?
Maybe people think the water issue is not so bad and after all, it will rain again this winter and all will be fine again. But what if it doesn't rain enough this winter...or next... or next? Some remember previous multiyear droughts. Other do not.
If you go down to the County Board of Supervisors offices, you will see that for the past few years they have been transforming their grounds into an example of water conservation landscaping. They've had a sign up for some time and now the plants and ground covers are in and patches of lawn have been reduced to small green spots rather than expanses. It's commendable. If you want people to do the right thing, you have to be doing it yourself. Now if only all the county landscapers would follow this example. Just go across the street to the Hall of Justice and you'll see a broad green lawn.
Get Rid of the Lawn
Why are lawns such an obvious culprit and easy way to spot water wasters? Grass, by nature, has very shallow roots. You have to keep the upper soil moist in order to have lush green grass. Grass also has long, somewhat broad blades that transpire moisture just staying alive. They are thin-skinned so their cells release water to evaporation quickly. People water their lawns at the end of the day so the grass can drink during the night and less water gets evaporated into the air during the day if there are no droplets of water losing their very life to the sun. That may seem like water conservation to lawn lovers, but it's missing the point.
The easiest way to make a very visible statement about your own efforts to conserve water is to eliminate your lawn. That goes for residential lawns, commercial lawns and business park lawns. The only broad expanses of grass that have any real purpose are athletic fields. It's nasty to fall on dry, hard dirt.
I have no figures on how much water is saved by eliminating lawns, but I'd find that statistic fascinating. If any readers have some, please send them along to vesta@sonic.net and I will publish them in the next issue. Maybe seeing how much water a square yard of lawn uses every day will help people understand what a total waste of the very essence of life on earth a green lawn can be.
Low Water Gardens
The first thing people think of when they contemplate taking out their lawn is that they will end up with bark or rocks instead. It doesn't have to get that drastic. And yes, going native is a wonderful concept and even that doesn't mean living without color. You will see Rock Roses blooming all summer long in the wild. Bunch grasses come in so many colors you'd be amazed and when they go to seed, the seed fronds display a whole other color range.
Some plants that never flower have foliage in bright yellows to dark greens and reds. And then there are flowers like Penstemon that thrive on lousy soil, little water and total neglect. And they attract hummingbirds! What a bonus to provide color and feed birds. The list goes on. Take a look at these:
- Yucca gloriosa
- Broom (Cytisus spp.)
- Yarrow (Achillea spp.)
- Nastur t ium (Tropaeolummajus)
- California poppy (Eschscholziacalifornica)
- Blanket flower (Gailardia spp.)
- Sedum spp.
- Gold dust (Alyssum saxatile)
- Mo s s r o s e ( P o r t u l a c a grandiflora)
- J u n i p e r (Juniperus spp.)
- Artemisia spp.
- Lavender (Lavendula spp.)
- Sage (Salvia spp.)
- Iris spp.
- Thyme spp.
- Crocus spp.
- Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Heavily mulching gardens not only provides nutrients if you use compost instead of bark (which leaches nutrients from the soil in an effort to decompose), it serves as a blanket to hold in moisture. If you use drip irrigation the top will stay dry and keep roots cool and moist. It's just one of many ways to garden and save water at the same time. Here are a few web sites for information:
Go visit native plant nurseries and you'll see for yourself how lovely and colorful going Native can be. Here are a few local nurseries that specialize in native plants. Many more include them as part of their stock as well - just ask:
- Buckeye Nursery
2425 Old Adobe Rd.
Petaluma, CA 95954
707-559-7081
- California Flora Nursery
2990 Somers (at D St., off River Road)
Fulton, CA 95439
707-528-8813
www.calfloranursery.com
- Mostly Natives Nursery
27235 Highway One
Tomales, CA 94971
707-878-2009
www.mostlynatives.com
- North Coast Native Nursery
2710 Chileno Valley Road
Petaluma, CA
707-769-1213
www.NorthCoastNativeNursery.com
- Occidental Arts & Ecology Ctr.
15290 Coleman Valley Rd
Occidental, CA 95465
707-874-1557
www.oaec.org
Take this one seriously and be a leader that others can follow. This is not something we need to wait for government leaders to do - it's something we can lead by example ourselves. |
