Watershed Info No 1041
Daniel Salzler No. 1041 EnviroInsight.org Six Items March 20, 2020
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1. Desert Botanical Garden Spring Sale. The Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden Spring sale has been postponed as a precaution against the COVID-19 virus. The date for the sale will be announced at a later date.
Many other events at the garden have been cancelled or schedualed for another time. For all of the details, go ONLINE TO DBG.ORG
2. You Do Not Need To Pay Your Taxes On April 15th. According to the March 18th edition of the Wall Street Journal, any taxes you owe the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may be deferred until July 15 due to Coronavirus. You still must submit your tax return by April 15 ( if you are getting money back from the IRS) but what you owe is not due until July 15th.
3. West’s Biggest Reservoir Is Back on the Rise, Thanks to Conservation, Snow Campaign to reduce water usage pays off for reservoir serving millions in Southwest.
The largest reservoir in the Western U.S., Lake Mead is rising again after more than a decade of decline, and at least some credit goes to the local National Hockey League team.
“Reality check!” Ryan Reaves, right wing for the Vegas Golden Knights, yells as he body-slams a man through a plate glass window for executive lawn watering in a television commercial. “Vegas is enforcing water waste big time.
Ads like this began airing last year as part of a campaign by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to persuade the more than two million residents of this sprawling desert metropolis to use less water. Using a carrot-and-stick approach, including paying landowners to remove grass and fining for overuse, the agency said it has cut total Colorado River water consumption by 25% over the past two decades, even as the population it serves has grown around 50%.
The savings are crucial because Lake Mead, which is fed by the Colorado River, supplies more than 40 million people in seven states in the fast-growing Southwest and had dropped precipitously during a drought between 2000 and 2015, undermining a $1.4 trillion economy tied to the river, according to Arizona State University estimates. Expanded conservation across the region, combined with snowier winters in the Colorado’s headwaters, have reversed the decline. Since 2016, Lake Mead has risen 25 feet to 1,096 feet as of Tuesday, leaving it 44% full and at its highest level in six years.
It’s great for the lake, great for the fish and great for tourism,” Josh Gannon, a worker at the lake’s Las Vegas Boat Harbor, said on a recent afternoon. The turnaround may not last long, though. Water managers caution that measures such as greater use of groundwater will be needed when the reservoir likely resumes its decline in the coming decades amid population growth and a warming climate that is expected to shrivel snow packs.
“This gives us a little time as we look ahead,” said Daniel Bunk, deputy chief of the Bureau of Reclamation office in Boulder City, Nev.
One reason for the plunge in use has been a massive conversion of water-sucking turf grass to drought-tolerant lawns. In 2015, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California doled out about $350 million in rebates for conversion of water-intensive turf grass to drought-tolerant lawns—seven times what had been budgeted.
In Orange County, Calif., the Irvine Ranch Water District has been able to cut its per capita drinking-water use by early one-fifth since 2013 due to conservation programs including a water budget for each customer. If they go substantially above it, they are assessed rates in higher price tiers, and the usage is labeled on bills as “inefficient” or “wasteful.” The district previously used the term “abusive,” but changed it after complaints.
Most of Nevada’s water is now recycled, including from sinks and showers. Much of the recycled water is returned to Lake Mead, where the Southern Nevada Water Authority has stockpiled enough water to account for about seven feet of the reservoir or more than two years of its allotted supply of 300,000 acre-feet a year.
With most water used outdoors, the agency focused on reducing consumption on the lawns and golf courses that carpet the Las Vegas Valley, which sits in a desert that receives only four inches of rain annually.
Building codes were amended to prohibit new turf in the front yards of new homes, while rebates were paid to yank out nearly 200 million square feet of grass–enough to cover 3,350 football fields.
At the Red Rock Country Club, crews replaced much of the turf at two 18-hole golf courses with desert landscaping—leaving grass mainly where golfers play, said Regional General Manager Thom Blinkinsop. He does regret the decision to take grass out of a driving range, though, saying the hard desert soil is causing problems like scuffed-up golf balls.
4. AZ Water 20/20 – A Clear Vison for Arizona’s Water. The AZ Water Annual Conference & Exhibition has been postponed from April 12-14, 2020 to July 21-23, 2020. Same locations: Phoenix Convention Center and Hyatt Regency Phoenix.
5. Plant Spring Savings. Until further notice Salt River Project will be holding workshops on how and where to plant shade trees and will hand out two (2) free shade trees for your home.. The three remaining workshops will be on April 4th at Apache Junction High School. May 2nd at South Mountain High School, and May 9th at Mesa Community College, Dobson Campus. Go to srpnet.com/shadetrees for times and any updates.
6. Desert Edibles Free Class. The Sonoran Desert is one of the most ecologically diverse deserts in the U.S. Many native plants were important sources of food and medicine for indigenous people.
Get a whole new appreciation for desert-adopted plants by learning about which ones are good to eat. Plan to attend this free class on Saturday, March 28th from 10 to noon. Register and get event updates at http://bit.ly?DesertEats, or call 623-930-3760 or greenliving@glendaleaz.com
