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Home , California Aqueduct, Droughts in California, Folsom Lake, Lake Oroville, Millerton Lake, San Luis Reservoir

SAN LUIS The , one of the largest in , stores water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and sends it by to the Bay Area and . In midsummer, it held about 20 percent capacity.

74 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 RUN DRY

AFTER THREE HISTORICALLY DRY YEARS, CALIFORNIA’S GROWS MORE CONFOUNDING AND THE FUTURE OF ITS WATER SUPPLY MORE UNCERTAIN.

BY BILL MARKEN, HONORARY ASLA PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER BENNETT/GREEN STOCK PHOTOS

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 / 75 O TALK ABOUT DROUGHT IN CALIFORNIA, YOU COULD START WITH THE MID-HOLOCENE PERIOD, WHEN A 1,400-YEAR DROUGHT LOWERED 20 FEET AND LASTED LONG ENOUGH FOR CONIFERS TO GROW THREE FEET THICK ABOVE THE RECEDING WATERLINE before the lake eventually rose back up water. One spokesperson for a water At my neighborhood market in the over them. Or with the 1930s, when agency said, “We’re technically not in heart of Silicon Valley, Jim the butch- farm families escaped the Dust Bowl a drought”—that agency had enough er told me why the price of lamb has of Texas and Oklahoma and ran up water. Another agency said, “The dis- skyrocketed—rack of lamb, bones, T OPPOSITE against a California dry spell nearly as trict could run out of water by July.” fat, and all, sells for $29 a pound. devastating. Or start with 1976–1977, An operator of sled dog teams in the He said, “We usually get our lamb Water from Northern then the driest rainy season recorded, Sierra has gone out of business from from the Central Valley, where the California is sent south to Los Angeles by way when drastic water-saving measures a lack of snow, and a Modesto golf sheep graze on winter grass. There’s of the 400-mile-long inspired memorable gallows-humor course has shut down from a lack of nothing to eat this year, so the val- advice such as, “If it’s yellow, let it water, but Palm Springs golf courses ley lambs are small, and we have before it is pumped mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” are as green as ever. to bring in meat from a lot farther over the mountains at away, like Colorado.” I didn’t want the south end of the But let’s begin with a road trip, 500 As I drove through the state, it to jeopardize our relationship by tell- . miles through the middle of Cali- was easy to see that not everyone ing Jim about Costco’s $10-a-pound fornia’s current water crisis, near is affected equitably by the water lamb from New Zealand. the end of winter and a rainy season shortage and the prospect of an that never came, the third in a row. even drier future. But the drought’s About the same time, Water in the The driest calendar year in Califor- power plainly showed in the color West, an interdisciplinary program nia’s recorded history had recently of the hills, in the levels of lakes and at Stanford, held a panel discussion ended, and the entire 2013–2014 streams, and in the tense faces and on the drought. Leon Szeptycki, the rainy season (measured from July sometimes angry, often confused program’s executive director, called 1 through June 30) was looking words of everyone who depends on a this drought “the worst drought on bleak, too—measurements at the water supply that is always essential record.” The Sierra snowpack, a ma- end would put it among California’s but never predictable or controllable. jor source of the Bay Area’s water three driest years. The current win- supply, was at an all-time record low ter was also the warmest in 119 years THE BAY AREA to date, he said. “Nearly 70 percent of record keeping, adding to threats of California is experiencing extreme of wildfires; by this summer, most of ast the midpoint of the rainy sea- or exceptional drought conditions. the state would be above normal for P son, it seemed in the San Francis- The challenge is how to get by this “significant wildland fire potential,” co Bay Area that Uber and out-of-sight year and in the future.” according to the California Depart- real estate prices monopolized more ment of Forestry and Fire Protection. conversations than the almost total Daniel Swain, a Stanford graduate lack of winter rain. But there were student who runs the blog weather Early in the year, Governor Edmund troubling hints of unusual goings-on. west.com, says, “It’s the driest period G. Brown Jr. declared a “drought The grassy hills were still brown and in San Francisco since at least the emergency” and asked for volun- would never get enough rain all sea- Gold Rush.” Swain calls the source tary 20 percent cutbacks in water son to turn into lush green pastures. of the drought the “Ridiculously Re- use. But how this emergency hits Cattle ranchers, now mostly long silient Ridge.” A high-pressure zone different areas depends on where gone from the area, used to say it over the northeastern Pacific was your water comes from, how well was a good year for grazing when directing storms to the north instead your area has prepared for drought, fall precipitation turned the foothills of allowing them to burst through as and for what purpose you want the green by Thanksgiving. in a normal year. This ridge is “part

76 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 / 77 ABOVE Home landscapes use as much as 80 percent of residential water supplies.

78 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 of the anomalies in the upper atmo- population, land use, and water sup- toral vision of old California: There sphere” that also caused last winter’s plies in the past 50 years. The county were hillsides and arroyos studded severe storms in the Midwest and grew from a population of 175,000 with sycamores and valley oaks, and Northeast. in 1940 to 642,000 in 1960 and is cattle were grazing on the slim pick- approaching two million today. ings of pale green grass that had The East Bay Municipal Utility Dis- sprouted after recent showers. The trict (MUD), which serves 1.3 mil- As I drove south through Silicon Val- first valley landmark hit like a slap lion people, asked its customers to ley I spotted scattered orchards of back to reality. The nine-mile-long cut back water use voluntarily by sweet cherries and apricots bloom- San Luis Reservoir looks like a bath- 10 percent. Abby Figueroa, a util- ing early because of the unseasonal tub of brownish water, with not a ity spokesperson, says, “The district warmth. Farms and ranches are green tree or green blade of grass learned our lesson in past , mostly gone, supplanted by the tilt- in sight. San Luis is a major hub for and we’re in better shape than other up buildings, parking lots, malls, and collecting water from the and areas.” Its holding Sierra subdivisions of the high-tech boom. of the federal Central Valley river water are half full, and this year In my formerly tiny hometown in the Project and the California State Wa- the district has arranged for Sacra- valley, a long-gone local hamburger ter Project and directing it to valley mento River water as well. hangout that was owned by a for- farmers as well as to the Bay Area mer deputy sheriff and patronized and Southern California. The reser- Since the devastating 1977–1978 mostly by cattle ranchers and fruit voir can hold two million acre-feet of drought, the East Bay MUD’s conser- growers every year displayed a black- water (an acre-foot is the amount of vation programs have emphasized board posting cumulative rainfall. water covering one acre to a depth water-saving landscapes. In 2004, And there was a pool: Put up a dollar of one foot); this winter it was at 33 the district published its own 320- and the closest to the season total percent of capacity. page book, Plants and Landscapes for won. Everyone talked about rainfall. Summer-Dry Climates. The book’s Almost all of the water came from The Central Valley includes about editor and main writer was Nora local wells. one-sixth of all the irrigated land in Harlow, a landscape architect who is the . Its water needs now a community affairs represen- Today the area depends on water im- are immense, drawing about three- tative with the district. Harlow says ported from systems originating far fourths of the state’s water supply. that area homeowners have learned away in Sierra and the Sacra- Shielded from the ocean’s weather- to cut back, particularly indoors, mento– Delta and moderating influence by the Diablo by retrofitting low-flow toilets and on local reservoirs built half a cen- Range, the 450-mile-long valley is a showerheads. “About all that’s left tury ago that are just a third full this different world from the Bay Area for additional water conservation is year. The Water climatically (much hotter), economi- the landscape. Irrigation can be done District announced a mandatory 20 cally (dependent on agriculture), and more efficiently.” She expects many percent cut in water usage from 2013 politically (far more conservative). lawns to turn brown and advises levels. Incentives for conservation The farther south you go, the drier holding off on major planting: “Wait were boosted: Rebates for converting it turns. Redding, at the top of the until we see what winter brings.” lawn to “low-water-using landscape” valley, normally receives almost 35 doubled; installing a weather-based inches of rain a year; Bakersfield, The drought has hit harder just to irrigation controller is eligible for a near the bottom, just six inches—an the south in Santa Clara County. rebate of up to $2,000; customers area with fewer than eight inches a San Jose, which normally receives can receive $200 for connecting a year is considered “arid desert.” nearly 15 inches of rain for the sea- clothes washer to a graywater irriga- son, had just six inches. Now known tion system. As I headed south on Interstate mostly as Silicon Valley, the area 5, the signs of the drought were was once called the Valley of Heart’s THE CENTRAL VALLEY everywhere. Interstate 5, the mo- Delight for all its fruit orchards and notonous freeway favored by truck spring blossoms. As much as any s I drove from the Bay Area into drivers, slices north to south down other part of California, the area has A the Central Valley on State Route the west side of the valley. That’s undergone wrenching changes in 152, presented a pas- the drier side, lightly populated

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 / 79 and heavy with agriculture. About water rights (who gets what, and at nearly all parts of the state, and in halfway between San Francisco and what price) lead to oversimplifica- many areas of the San Joaquin Val- Los Angeles, Coalinga (population tions. “Twenty to 30 percent of our ley, levels are more than 100 feet be- 13,000, main industries: agriculture, water is gone because of a little fish,” low historical lows. She adds, “How oil, and incarceration) receives just says a farmer west of Fresno who is long will the groundwater last? No eight inches of rainfall a year. This going to leave his fields fallow. An one knows. The situation is already area boomed around a system of environmentalist counters by say- dire for many communities. If we canals and aqueducts, and it has ing that the “little fish” (smelt) is a want groundwater to be there for us, become a bountiful center for heat- scapegoat that plays a key part in we need to put water back into our loving, water-demanding crops such maintaining the health of a complex aquifers and manage it for droughts as melons, tomatoes, cotton, and ecosystem. to come.” fruit and nut trees. The plight of smaller-scale growers Groundwater is more than an agri- On a late winter day, this side of the is particularly problematic. “Drought business problem. Visalia, one valley valley was khaki in color. There was hits small farmers the hardest,” says town that gets all its residential water hardly any grazing livestock. Fields Lance Walheim, who grows 17 acres from groundwater, put into effect a lay fallow owing to water shortage. of mixed citrus varieties east of Visa- “water emergency” that limits home- One agricultural industry source lia on the east side of the valley. He owners to irrigating no more than estimates that at least 500,000 acres has seen growers with small acre- three times a week, for 20 minutes of farmland will not be planted this ages of citrus pulling out drought- maximum. year because of the water crisis. stricken trees while a large-scale grower with access to groundwater Governor Brown and other state offi- But for what seems like 50 miles is planting 200 acres of almonds. cials have emphasized protection of or more, there was a notable excep- With water prices on their way to tri- groundwater supplies, and lawmak- tion. Almond trees in full white to pling or more, Walheim is pondering ers have introduced a controversial pale pink bloom lined the highway. whether to pay the cost of a deeper bill that would impose new manage- California now has 800,000 acres well. He notes that large growers ment plans overseeing groundwater of almonds—a response to global have more access to deep wells or managed by local agencies. As the demand, especially in Asia—nearly stronger water rights. spring and summer wore on, state double the 1995 acreage, and they legislators debated new groundwater bring profits second only to those Everyone in the valley is affected by regulations, and various state and of grapes. They come with a price the polarizing subject of ground- federal drought-relief measures were paid in water. Almond trees take water, a major source of irrigation proposed. five or more years to become pro- and drinking water. Groundwater ductive, and they need much more generally makes up 40 percent of LOS ANGELES water than the row crops they have the state’s water supply and rises to replaced. And almond growers 60 percent or so during drought. In t the south end of the valley, I-5 can’t afford to reduce irrigation or California the pumping of ground- Aclimbs steeply over Tejon Pass let their orchards go fallow during water has been unregulated for the through the , a dry year as with tomatoes, for most part, which means that owners where there are peaks higher than instance. of private wells usually can pump 8,000 feet. From the highway, you as much as water as desired. Some glimpse the California Aqueduct, Along the highway, angry, hand-lettered local water districts have allowed part of the 700-mile-long State Wa- signs appeared with the frequency aquifers to decline precipitously. ter Project, which pumps its water of old Burma-Shave ads to protest a 2,000 feet high over and through “man-made drought” or to claim that At Stanford’s Water in the West, the the mountains to res- “Congress Created DUST BOWL.” research analyst Janny Choy says, ervoir, just miles from the northern The signs refer to federal regulations “Groundwater is getting us through edge of the greater metropolitan Los that limit the delivery of water to pro- the drought. Imagine if the ground- Angeles area, which has a popula- tect the flow of rivers diminished by water weren’t there.” Choy says that tion of more than 18 million.

the drought. The complications of groundwater levels have dropped in IMAG ES DUNN/AMBIENT ANTHONY

80 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 ABOVE Although beautiful in bloom, almonds demand much more water than the row crops they have

ANTHONY DUNN/AMBIENT IMAG ES DUNN/AMBIENT ANTHONY replaced in the last decade.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 / 81 CALIFORNIA DROUGHT MONITOR CURRENT RESERVOIR CONDITIONS

LEGEND

Historical 4552 CAPACITY Average (TAF) 4000

3000 % of Capacity % of Historical Average 2000 3538 3000 1000 2000 0 2448 2000 Shasta Reservoir 1000 35% 49% 1000 0 0 36% 49% 2420 36% 45% 2000

977 1000 2030 0 0 New Melones 1000 42% 59% 26% 43% 0 Don Pedro Reservoir 2039 45% 58%

1000 1025 0 0 Intensity San Luis Reservoir Exchequer Reservoir 23% 46% 21% 34% Abnormally Dry Moderate Drought 520 1000 0 Severe Drought 0 53% 83% Pine Flat Reservoir 15% 29% Extreme Drought 171 Exceptional Drought 0 Pyramid Lake The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scale conditions. 93% 105% Local conditions may vary. 325

0 Castaic Lake 46% 55%

In Los Angeles, the total rainfall for Southern California, the country’s from the droughts of the 1970s and 2013–2014 was about six inches, less largest supplier of treated water, 1980s. Correcting an overdepen- than half the normal 14 inches. But spokesman Bob Muir said, “These dence on water from the Colorado in late winter there hardly seemed are unprecedented conditions for River and , in the to be a sense of panic, controversy, Southern California. Each drought 1990s MWD built 810,000-acre-foot or worry about a dry future. Televi- becomes more complicated with new Diamond Valley Lake, 90 miles east sion weather reporters spoke at one twists. We are reaching an era of of L.A. This summer, the reservoir point of a “threat” of rain and possible limits.” But, he noted that the district was two-thirds full. mudslides. In Pasadena, I couldn’t entered the current drought with help but notice new sod around the “highest reserves” even though its Last February MWD declared a “Wa- convention center, laid in time for two main sources of water are “chal- ter Supply Alert” to support the gov- thousands of dog groomers and ken- lenged” this year: The State Water ernor’s 20 percent reduction target. nel keepers attending an expo. One Project cut back its allocation of water The alert encourages conservation, scary headline did say, “Brace yourself to Southern California to just 5 per- particularly outdoors where 60 per- for the driest winter in 500 years.” An cent of its normal delivery, the lowest cent of the area’s water use takes even scarier newspaper story said that since 1991; and the Colorado River place. The district’s incentive for Lady Gaga had become “California’s aqueduct, built during the Depres- reducing turfgrass doubled from $1 new drought spokeswoman.” sion, is delivering an adequate sup- to $2 a square foot. Muir said that ply despite a 12-year drought in the since 2009, 11 million square feet Downtown, in the halls of the Met- river’s watershed. Muir credits the of turf lawn have been replaced with

ropolitan Water District (MWD) of district’s reserves to lessons learned landscape that uses less water. RIGHT RESOURCES, WATER OF DEPARTMENT CALIFORNIA THE COURTESY LEFT; CENTER, MITIGATION DROUGHT NATIONAL THE COURTESY

82 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 Mia Lehrer, FASLA, who is active in COACHELLA VALLEY and the Colorado River system. Lo- Los Angeles water circles, is a big cal golf courses rely on the district’s believer in lawn rebates. She says hundred or so miles east of supply from the Colorado River that decades of water conservation Adowntown Los Angeles, the and recycled water, plus their own have sunk in to a certain degree: The Coachella Valley, including Palm wells. Drinking water comes from city uses less water now with a larg- Springs, lies in the rain shadow of the aquifer. er population than 20 years ago. She the San Jacinto Mountains, which credits public agencies for creating a rise nearly 11,000 feet over the desert In the Coachella Valley, there are sense of urgency about the current floor. This is real, dictionary-defined 124 golf courses (many with grass drought but adds that “homeowners desert, with normal annual rainfall covering more than 100 acres), and don’t know what to put in place of a of about six inches—and just two the health of the local economy de- grass lawn.” She said she would like inches this year. The native vegeta- pends highly on them. Craig Kessler, to see more hands-on instruction tion consists of creosote bush, cholla the director of governmental affairs —even what she calls “a lawn ther- cactus, yucca, paloverde trees, and for the Southern California Golf As- apy truck” going around the city smoke trees; native fan palms still sociation, explained the need to fight equipped with plants and a designer. grow in spring-fed oases in canyons misperceptions about water usage of the foothills. The area began to in interviews with the Los Angeles East of Los Angeles, in Orange turn green in 1949 when a Times and Golfworld.com. “Regula- County, Amy McNulty, the water connected to the Colorado River sys- tors know how efficiently courses efficiency manager of the Irvine tem brought in the first imported use water,” he said. Engel says the Ranch Water District, said that water and ignited a boom in vacation water district is working with the their area is “technically not in a living and agriculture (grapes, citrus, golf industry to reduce water use drought” because their supplier dates, vegetables). 20 percent by 2020, using more MWD (which provides 22 percent of recycled water and imported water Irvine Ranch’s water) has adequate This past winter season was busi- to lessen groundwater withdrawals. water, and the district’s wells and re- ness as usual. Golf courses were A landscape ordinance sets a maxi- cycled water systems are adequately fully green, the fountains sparkling. mum turf allowance per hole for stocked. Irvine Ranch’s reliance on Resorts were decked out with mass new golf courses. The golf industry groundwater and recycled water is plantings of pansies, geraniums, is “proactive,” Kessler says. “Instead unusual in Southern California. The snapdragons, and other traditional of 140 irrigated acres, wall-to-wall area was developed more recently annual flowers timed to bloom for green, you’ll start to see a little more (in the 1970s and later) than much the arrival of people escaping the of the desert look.” of Southern California, and pipes cold of the Midwest and East Coast. for recycling water went in at the President Obama arrived for a vaca- Early in the year, the Coachella wa- same time as the subdivisions. Re- tion in early February and Time ran ter district stepped up its conser- cycled water (treated wastewater) a headline that said: “Obama Plays vation incentives for homeowners provides 25 percent of the district’s Water Guzzling Desert Golf Courses (80 percent of their water goes to water. McNulty also commends the Amid California Drought.” outdoor use). There are rebates for conservation record of its 80,000 converting lawns to low-water land- residential customers: Water use “Every day is a drought here,” says scape and for smart controllers. As has fallen from 170 gallons per Heather Engel, director of commu- a guide for homeowners, the dis- day in 1991 to 86 gallons in 2014. nication and conservation for the trict published a 160-page book on A major incentive has been a rate Coachella Valley Water District. water-efficient landscaping, Lush & structure put in place in 1991: Ev- The district’s water supplies for golf Efficient; the book in its entirety can ery customer is given a water base, courses and other purposes are in be viewed online. Tiered water rates depending on the number of people “better shape than in most of Cali- begun in 2009 have encouraged in a residence and the evapotranspi- fornia,” she says. “We are used to conservation, but the cost of Coach- ration rate of the particular location. relying on nothing.” The water dis- ella water is startlingly low. The aver- If a customer goes over the base, the trict, which serves 108,000 custom- age residential bill is $28 a month. water bill goes up. ers, gets its water supplies from the A young homeowner told me that

COURTESY THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER, LEFT; COURTESY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIGHT RESOURCES, WATER OF DEPARTMENT CALIFORNIA THE COURTESY LEFT; CENTER, MITIGATION DROUGHT NATIONAL THE COURTESY local aquifer, the State Water Project, her monthly bill, for a small patch of

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 / 83 lawn and mostly desert plants, runs desert, revealed—in fast-forward projects, such as groundwater between $12 and $15 (my monthly summary—how the land was management, building, and Silicon Valley water bill reached transformed by massive irrigation environmental restoration. $200 this summer). projects. In the 18th century, Spanish padres and settlers built missions, Many predictions point to a future In the longer run, Coachella Valley towns, and forts, and planted what of more extremes, owing to climate faces the same groundwater dilemma they knew from home in a : a warmer, drier state with as the rest of the state. Engel says that seemed familiar. They grew diminished snowpack and more that “the groundwater supply is olives and figs, created plazas of flooding as rain falls rather than not infinite.” The area’s natural packed earth, and watered sparingly. snow. Of more immediate concern groundwater supply of 39 million Nineteenth-century Anglos came, to most Californians is the upcoming acre-feet “is in overdraft”—drawn and then their engineering solutions rainy season, which usually begins down by about 5 million acre-feet. delivered water from far away. The in October or November. As of Groundwater is usually replenished state greened up. midsummer, the U.S. Climate with imported water, but not much Prediction Center predicts a weak to replenishment can take place this are a fact of moderate El Niño effect for the next year, with only a 5 percent allocation life, as, now, are battles over how the rainy season, leaving the prospects from the State Water Project. state’s water will be divvied up. Under of a drought breaker up in the air. discussion are ways to make better California rainfall records show hile I was driving back from the use of existing water supplies and to great variations from one year to Wdesert, several Coachella images ameliorate the risks of drought. There the next, with erratic periods of dry kept popping into my mind. In the are marketing or political solutions— and wet years, and actually more wet lobby of the historic La Quinta Resort, tiered price structures for water, the years than dry years. The drought of black-and-white photos show what the selling or trading of water rights, 1987–1992 was broken by an El Niño- area looked like when the resort was tighter oversight of groundwater, driven season that was the wettest in built in the 1920s, decades before mandatory rationing. There are at least 119 years. water was imported. The resort now is technical solutions—greater use of one of those lush golf-and-geranium recycled water, increased storage in Lance Walheim, the citrus grower, winter paradises. Then it was stark groundwater aquifers, deployment says, “One more dry summer next as a western movie set, its adobe of smart controllers and meters, year will be devastating.” buildings framing views into a wide- and other ways to make irrigation open, nearly bare plain dramatically more efficient for farmers and Bob Muir, of the Metropolitan Water backdropped by steep mountains. homeowners. And there are the District of Southern California, says solutions that date back to the state’s if 2014–2015 is another dry year, “Ex- Near the resort today, Bear Creek earlier days—building more dams pect to see the specter of allocations Trail skirts golf fairways and subdi- and canals. and mandatory conservation.” visions and gives a glimpse of the beauty of the natural landscape, On their November ballot, California In East of Eden, John Steinbeck, who marked by sculptural smoke trees voters will have a chance to decide grew up in the agriculturally rich and paloverde trees. It was hearten- on a bond measure to overhaul the Salinas Valley, had this to say: “And ing to see how many of the nearby state’s water system. Still being it never failed that during the dry La Quinta homeowners on their refined in midsummer, the measure years the people forgot about the rich own have created desert-style land- will be loaded with controversial years, and during the wet years they scapes instead of lawns—whether lost all memory of the dry years. It motivated by a quest for authenticity, was always that way.” sustainability, or lower water bills. ON LAM’S WEBSITE: Six landscape architects BILL MARKEN, HONORARY ASLA, IS THE FORMER The drive home back through the share their views EDITOR IN CHIEF OF SUNSET AND GARDEN DESIGN MAGAZINES. Central Valley, much of it technically on the drought. Visit www.landscape architecturemagazine.com.

84 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 ABOVE With just two inches of rain this year, Palm Springs golf courses are under close watch.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE SEP 2014 / 85