Atherton talk: water-wise gardening in time of drought

While driving through Atherton yesterday morning on the 300 block of Selby Lane I encountered a gardener who had been instructed to water the DIRT on the blvd. There were no plants on this street-side strip of land, just dirt.

The gardener said the order to water the dirt came from a neighbor, not the resident of the house he worked for -- the neighbor didn't want any dirt from the neighbor to "come across the street" onto her property.

I don't know if the gardener was ordered to water the dirt when it dried 15 min. later

One has to wonder why a gardener would follow the instructions of someone that isn't paying him.

Menlo Voter
Perhaps I didn't spell it out completely -- evidently neighbor complained to neighbor, and that homeowner told the gardener to comply.......I guess it was to maintain good relations (rather than to conserve during a drought)

Wonder if they'll continue to water down the dirt. Keep a look-out when you are in Atherton.

Dirt in Atherton - shocking, just shocking.

Don't understand Peter's comment -- is he saying that watering dirt (where there are no plantings whatsoever) just to keep it from blowing at all is just fine during this drought?

Is he saying that since the wealthy can afford whatever water they want, they can pour it down the gutter?

Peter -- please tell me that you didn't mean this. I agree with so many of your comments and find them to be responsible....this one isn't though

shocked:

I think Peter was being sarcastic.

"Don't understand Peter's comment "

Did you see Casablanca? "
"Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here."

'Rick, why did you come to California?'
"I came for the waters.'
'But there is no water in California.'
"I was misinformed."

Belittled for my legit concern --

Casablanca??? Guess I should have chosen another nom de plume to avoid the insider's sarcasm.

So much for a plain ol'citizen trespassing onto the insider's private comment forum. Won't do that again.

"Guess I should have chosen another nom de plume"

Yes, it is much better to use your real name.

Derision from Mr. Carpenter as punishment for not using my name when I attempted to bring up a legitimate issue -- in this case water conservation during this very challenging drought. Wow.

I know the name ID issue is a pet peeve of his, since he cannot imagine legitimate circumstances why a person can't identify themselves on this forum. But my reasons to omit my name are legitimate and private --- as is my right to express an opinion on a community issue without derision.

Again, the issue was water conservation.

There was no derision in my use of the word, not a name, shocked but rather laughing at the fact that there would be dirt in, gasp, Atherton.

To quote my statement "Dirt in Atherton - shocking, just shocking."


If I had been referring to a poster who was using Shocked as him/her name then I would have capitalized the proper name.

Hopefully this linguistic confusion will peter out.

Perhaps a more effective pricing structure for water use proportional to household size -- with penalties for exceeding thresholds -- will discourage some wealthy folks from watering the dirt on their huge properties or taking other heedless actions, but I think further more dramatic public policies will be necessary.

Any ideas folks? If a fraction of our local creativity were applied to this urgent issue perhaps we'd be prepared for the inevitable resource and policy issues we'll face as the drought continues. It's almost summer --- praying for rain isn't going to help.

We're talking water, not just an average commodity.

So mindlessly dumping fresh water over large areas of dirt in Atherton is inconsiderate waste, but doing the same in an almond orchard is sanctioned business.

Water is water, no matter where it's used or abused.

"Any ideas folks?"

Yes. 1 - Ban lawns on any new construction; there are plenty of good alternatives
2 - Provide incentives for taking out existing lawns and replacing them with zero water surfaces.
3 - Provide a list of liquid films for pool surfaces that prevent evaporation
4 - Publish a list of the top ten percent of water users each month

Great ideas Peter!

Mr/Ms "Really?" Anything positive to add? (note: I never mentioned and certainly never justified almond growers' water use....they need to pull back)

Communities across California would greatly benefit from working with local outdoor water professionals to do proactive care to their water systems and help with updates. By stoping waste before it starts, and adding drip irrigation property owners can save water and money. We have worked in this industry for over 25 years and we can't stress enough how important basic upkeep and upgrades are when it comes to conserving water.