Did you know Angelenos use an average of 79 gallons of water per day, while San Franciscans use 45 gallons per day? What makes the difference – is it shorter showers or limited car washing? Actually, for the residential consumer, Â it’s all in the landscaping. Â About half of all water used by residential customers in Los Angeles is used in landscaping.
The Getty House was the scene of an “Engage LA” event last week when Mayor Eric Garcetti and his wife Amy Elaine Wakeland opened the back yard of the mayoral residence to a panel forum:Â Drought LA: What It Will Take to Save the Drop. Organized by the Getty House Foundation, the event brought together small businesses, corporations, Neighborhood Councils, and local non-profits to discuss making Los Angeles a more sustainable city in this fourth year of drought.
LA’s First Lady Amy Elaine Wakeland kicked off the event citing their efforts to make the mayor’s residence more sustainable. Noting the Getty House is part of the city’s Recreation and Parks system, Wakeland said they have worked to save water throughout the property including installing low-flow fixtures and faucets, removing the front lawn and parkway and replacing it with low-water plantings, draining the back yard historic water fountain, and working with the Hancock Park Garden Club to make the Blue Garden even more drought-tolerant. There are plans in process to redesign the entire backyard with less lawn and more water-wise plantings.
Activist-musician Moby shared the stage with Mayor Garcetti for a few minutes, claiming it is okay to “drought shame” your neighbors by letting lawns go brown, as he has done. Moby ticked off a variety of water saving measures he has instituted in his own life, and said the water situation is serious enough that “it’s about time we all get indignant about water waste.”
Mayor Garcetti spoke of the measure his administration has taken, including the city-wide “Save the Drop” campaign that is reaching the public through a sad-eyed big blue drop seen on billboards and bus stops. He also spoke of stormwater treatment projects, recharging groundwater basins, and promoting more rebates to citizens for such things as turf removal and low flush toilets.
The panel of four experts to discuss the drought included Felicia Marcus, Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, Matt Petersen, Chief Sustainability Officer of the City of Los Angeles and Miguel Luna, Executive Director of Urban Semillas. Some of the key points taken from the lively discussion included:
- Last month LA reduced its water use by about 10%, a good start but the goal is 20% reduction;
- We import 80% of the water the city uses and needs, which is used for commercial, industrial and residential uses;
- In California, 80% of water is used for agriculture – but this is both for the “food and fiber” we urbanites consume;
- Desalination plants are still too expensive and energy inefficient for LA, which has groundwater basins to catch and save water. Other cities, like San Diego, don’t have the basins and are moving toward desalination;
- Residential and commercial turf removal should not be replaced with artificial turf, cement or gravel: these add heat to our urban environment and don’t provide a habitat for urban animals, birds and insects;
- Trees are a win-win option in times of drought: they cool the environment, build oxygen, clean the air, Â keep the ground from becoming too parched, and provide habitat for urban wildlife.
“We have to change how we think about water,” Garcetti told the assembled crowd. “This means a socio-behavioral-cultural change for all Angelenos.”
