Summertime Ban on New Lawns Studied
Customers buying sod from Green Landscape Nursery in Saugus may tire of the refrain, but nursery owner Richard Green says the advice he plants in their minds is solid.
“When people buy sod, I tell the people to keep it wet, wet, wet . . . and when they’re walking out the door I tell them to keep it wet, wet, wet,” Green said Friday. “I tell them to water it four to five times a day throughout the day . . . and on a day like today that is absolutely required . . . or else you’ll lose it.”
But Green, who also sits on the city of Santa Clarita’s 11-member drought committee, recognizes that following such a watering regimen is unwise--perhaps antisocial--during the peak summer months of one of the worst droughts in modern California history.
He said the amount of water saved under the city’s conservation rules--which restrict outdoor watering between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., prohibit the hosing down of paved areas and allow watering only every other day--has been dropping since March, when the rules took effect.
Santa Clarita residents cut water use by 51.1% in March, 20% in April and 6.8% in May.
“When you put in a new lawn, it needs water constantly, and you can’t do that and still comply with the city’s ordinance,” City Engineer Jim Van Winkle said.
Green said that is why, despite the harm it would do his business, he supports an amendment to the city’s existing drought ordinance that would ban the planting of new lawns during July, August and September. The ban, which would take effect Aug. 14 if approved, is one of several amendments to be presented to the City Council on Tuesday.
Green said people need to be reminded that the drought is continuing. “People are getting a little laissez-faire about the drought . . . they need to have it in their water bills every month so they know what to conform to,” he said.
Concerned that the city’s water conservation efforts are evaporating with rising temperatures, the committee also is recommending that the ordinance be changed to allow lawns to be watered daily, but only for 10 minutes in any one area of a lawn. The current rule allows watering only every other day and has caused homeowners concerned with keeping their yards green to waste water, Van Winkle said.
“One of the reasons we think we’ve been having some trouble and seeing the conservation efforts slip away is that people forget,” Van Winkle said. “They need to make a conscious effort to save.”
