Photos: Preparing for the next drought

A trucker cleans out hay from the Los Alamitos racetrack inside a storage facility at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, which began rethinking its water portfolio 15 years ago.

“Hopefully we are building a sustainable system to get us through the next 100 years,” said Joe Grindstaff, of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. Piles of compost sit inside an agency storage facility.

Jeff Ziegenbein, who oversees regional compost operations, walks on a storage facility roof covered with solar panels at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency.

A drought-resistent garden at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. Landscaping accounts for half of urban water use in California.

The University of California’s lawn project in Irvine: A “traditional” front yard, left; a “low impact” yard with low water-use plants; and a “low impact” yard with native drought-resistant plants.

The University of California’s lawn project in Irvine: A “traditional” front yard, left; a “low impact” yard with low water-use plants; and a “low impact” yard with native drought-resistant plants.