I found this article at Planetsave.com while doing a search about the amount of water used to irrigate residential lawns.  I don’t  know anything about them but they site predictions from two researchers at UCSD that Lake Mead has a 50/50 shot of drying up in the next 12 years.  I don’t know who these two researchers are either.  They do have some interesting figures on residential water use in the Southwest.  Their figures put potable residential water use for irrigating a yard at 57%.  This much is reasonably accurate from what I have read from other, confirmed sources.

So what?  I know many complain about the rising price of water in my area lately.  All the while they are irrigating a lawn area equal in size to as much double the area of their home.  Even more in some cases.  According to EMWD’s figures given in a testimony at a Senate subcommittee on local water resources they have gotten dependance on non-local water such as Colorado River and California Delta down to 56%.  Still a pretty big number but its down from 80% prior to a 34% population increase.

It occurred to me, our residential outdoor water use (read lawns and shrubs) percentage is about equal to our dependence on non-local water resources.  I don’t have all the other figures necessary to do a proper comparison but I suspect we could do a lot to make our community water independent in our own yards.  Water independence might become a pretty significant word in the coming years.  I urge everyone to keep that in mind the next time we are mowing our lawns.

Here’s where we are today on the yard.  Got the retaining wall planter in and the retaining wall that will fit behind the hot tub.  I have dug out the ground 4+ feet away from the patio to make room for the patio extension.  We were pretty spoiled at our Snow Gum house because of its HUGE patio.  The patio here is a bit slim so a little extra should make things much better.  Putting power in for the hot tub soon and of course pouring a pad for that at the same time as the patio extension will finish off most the hardscape.  The only remaining hardscape is the flagstone that is laid to go from the patio to the rest of the yard.  Its laid down but its not set, I need to do a little bit of grading to make sure I don’t make a dam and create a lake in the yard next time it rains.  I have a lot more pictures on my Facebook photo albums.

Retaining wall planter and hardscape

Planter

This was Summer of 2008:

This is Summer of 2009:

Same story, different place.  Well, here’s to one last summer renovating a yard and then years of enjoying it…

The Crane Fly

Every few years or so around Spring or Summer I observe what can only be described as a plague.  Its not always the same thing, but its rather plague like.

First, it was the toad plague back in the day on North Broadway.  Then, years later it was the plague of squirrels.  The squirrels were so abundant that they were getting run over on the street by the dozen.  You could drive down the street and see little tails standing up off the roads surface.

This year, its the plague of crane flies.  We are in a new home this Spring so its easy to think that its like this every year, but the neighbors say its never been like this.

Are you wondering what a crane fly is?  You may know them as a mosquito eater (skeeter-eater), a gallinipper, a gollywhopper or a jimmy spinner.

I learned today that they don’t in-fact eat mosquitos.  Read about them in WikiPedia.

Now its just one more bug in my yard to control.

Here’s the rundown:

Friday

• Write 2 Phase 1 audit reports
• Drag out all the lawn tools I have and dig up the dirt around the sprinkler manifold because there seems to be a leak

Saturday

• 7a – Clean out concrete ditch on side of property with Brent
• 7:30a – Pick up 1.5 yards of 3/4″ gravel from RCP
• 8a – Shovel with Brent, Kyle & Jeff and coordinate who is coming when to help
• 9a – Pick up another 1.5 yards of 3/4″ gravel from RCP
• 9:30a – Shovel with Same guys + Brandon and Brent A
• 10a – Dismantle fence to my backyard on the West side of the house
• 10:30a – start cutting down the first of 2 palm trees
• 11a – Pick up another 1.5 yards of 3/4″ gravel from RCP
• 11:30a – move palm branches to back yard and roll palm trunks back
• 12p – Christy went to grab sandwiches for the remaining crew while we clear the rest of the trees
• 12:30p – Pick up another 1.5 yards of 3/4″ gravel from RCP
• 1p – Shovel gravel with Brent D and the kids
• 1:30p – Check out the mt. bike track Vince and Brent A. are digging in my back yard….
• 2:30p – Sort out tools so everyone gets what they came with back home
• 4p – put up the fence again so that the dog can’t get out.
• 5p – Take a shower
• 6p – finish writing my teaching message for Sunday!!!!  Yikes!
• 11p – Print 2 copies of my message and create message slides
• 12a – Go to bed……

Sunday

• 7a – get up and head to church
• 10:30a – lay down the message for church
• 12p – my parents come up to see Casey and bring dinner
• 2p – dig some post holes for the gate posts (for my new RV access)
• 4p – Paint the bottom of the posts so I can sink them in concrete around lunch time Monday
• 5p – Sit on the couch with Casey
• 9p – zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

If you didn’t make it over this weekend…you missed out!