Ocean friendly gardens are a more sustainable gardening practice reducing outdoor water use.
Approximately half of all residential water use in California is for outdoor purposes—and, of that, the majority is used for watering lawns and gardens. In total approximately 1,300,000 acre feet of water is used for watering lawns and gardens; enough to cover the entire County of Los Angeles with six inches of water. Producing, transporting, treating and delivering that water requires a significant amount of energy. In a state that had below-normal precipitation in 8 of the last 10 years (including a 3-year drought), can using such significant amounts of water (and related energy) in this manner be considered sustainable?
Ocean friendly gardens utilize drought resistant California native plants in plots that are designed to capture home stormwater runoff. They require little, if any, irrigation. Water is supplied to the gardens by rerouting downspouts that would normally send rainwater to the streets or sewer systems—water that would otherwise wash pollutants such as fertilizers, pesticides and oil into California’s rivers and ultimately pollute our oceans and beaches. Ocean friendly gardens are specially designed to retain the influx of storm water and achieve near-zero runoff. Contours and dry creek beds built into the landscapes retain water, allowing it to percolate into the ground.
An increased number of these gardens and landscapes would help alleviate water supply stresses and flash flooding problems in Southern California. A significant portion of Southern California’s water supply, imported from 450 miles away at a very high cost, has been under stress in recent years due to shortages. Meanwhile, in many Southern California urban areas, elaborate storm drain systems are used to drain any rainfall cities do receive into the ocean. During large storms, these drainage systems can be overwhelmed, resulting in flash floods. During the heavy rains this past December, for example, the volume of water washed off of Los Angeles’ streets and into the ocean was enough to supply water to 130,000 Southern California homes for a year. Using this local source would help alleviate local water supply problems while decreasing the amount of pollution washed out to sea.
While ocean friendly gardens are a great benefit to homeowners, water utilities, and the environment, they are still few in number. Many water agencies support ocean friendly gardening, offering multiple resources to their customers. These include “Cash for Grass” incentives as well as demonstration gardens. However, barriers to adoption still exist, including a lack of awareness of ocean friendly garden design, a lack of understanding of the significant amount of water currently used to irrigate lawns and gardens, and a lack of understanding of the cost of current watering practices (ranging from $200 to $400 per year for a typical house). Innovative community outreach programs are needed to shift California’s outdoor landscaping paradigm.
Organizations like the Green Gardens Group – which is currently partnering with the Surfrider Foundation – have facilitated hands on workshops for local communities to spread the word about ocean friendly gardening in Southern California. These workshops are typically held at local homes where volunteers (usually friends and neighbors of the homeowner) are taught how to evaluate the home’s existing landscape and convert it into an ocean friendly garden. The volunteers then return to the same location one month later to construct the newly designed garden. The result: a garden that not only reduces water use by 60-80%, but also educates and empowers the local community. Volunteers leave with the knowledge necessary to design and build their own ocean friendly gardens.
This community involvement model is not new. The Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) organizes “barn raisings” in Cambridge, MA where a similar approach is used to teach homeowners how to weatherize their homes in order to make them more energy efficient.
These gatherings are more like a block party than a lecture or work camp. Food and drink are aplenty, neighbors meet and help each other, and new friendships are formed. Often when the work is complete, there is live music to entertain the volunteers. If saving water and energy is as easy as inviting your friends and neighbors over for a party, why aren’t we all doing it?
Hydroelectric generators – just one of the many links between water and energy in California.
It’s no secret that California’s energy and water resources are inextricably linked. While electricity generation itself requires substantial amounts of water, the water infrastructure consumes 7.7% of the state’s electricity to transport, treat, distribute and recycle water.
California’s “water-energy nexus” is complex and subject to many external stresses. During times of drought, surface water supplies dwindle, and we inevitably tap more energy intensive supplies such as groundwater and imported water which increases our electricity demand on the already constrained power grid. To exacerbate the problem, droughts decrease the generation of hydroelectric power which normally provides 20% of the state’s electricity. These problems will only get worse as climate change threatens to alter precipitation patterns in California. As we search for the answers to these problems, a 2005 report by the California Energy Commission reminds us:
“[A] major portion of the solution is closer coordination between the energy and water sectors. A meaningful solution cannot be reached in the current regulatory environment where water utilities value only the cost of acquisition, conveyance, treatment, and delivery; wastewater utilities value only the cost of collection, treatment, and disposal; electric utilities value only saved electricity; and natural gas utilities value only saved natural gas.”
To foster the goal of greater coordination and understanding, the Alliance has updated and re-launched the Water-Energy Program content of its website with new information regarding the critical relationship between water and energy in California. The new content highlights the opportunities California has for reducing the energy intensity of the state’s water use cycle, identifies key measures for both water agencies and end users to reduce their water-related energy use, and discusses the regulatory challenges facing water providers striving to save energy as well as high priority policy strategies for overcoming them.
The Alliance’s Water-Energy Advisory Committee has come to the consensus that like energy efficiency, “water conservation is the most cost-effective and environmentally preferred action to save energy and water.” A second major opportunity, detailed in a recent report by the Alliance, is the expansion of the use of recycled water to safely displace the use of potable water for non-potable uses such as toilet flushing, landscape irrigation, commercial car washing, and fire protection.
The bottom line is that saving water saves energy and saving energy saves water. Meeting California’s aggressive goals to reduce both energy and water-use will therefore require utility mangers, regulators, and policymakers alike to align their efforts.
We hope this new content will provide the public with better information and support a greater understanding and collaboration between water and energy managers as they work to ensure California has a sustainable water and energy supply for years to come.
There are tremendous opportunities to improve efficiency of household water use without affecting the services and benefits that water provides – and to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time. Researchers at the Pacific Institute have developed WECalc, Your Home Water-Energy-Climate Calculator, a free online tool that empowers users with information on their water and related energy use and identifies strategies to reduce them.
WECalc asks users a series of questions about their personal water use habits and, based on their responses, estimates total water use and provides personalized recommendations for reducing that use. WECalc also helps users have a better understanding of the connections between water and energy by providing them with an estimate of their water-related energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions.
Numerous studies show that the water conservation potential is substantial and largely untapped. Existing, cost-effective technologies can reduce household water demand by 30% to 40%, and the good news is that these currently available water-efficient technologies can help homes and businesses save water without sacrificing their quality of life. In fact, most homeowners believe that the performance, maintenance, and appearance of the efficient appliances are superior to older appliances.
Water is both heavy and extremely energy intensive to heat. As a result, capturing, treating, moving, and using water requires large amounts of energy. This is particularly true in the West, where water supplies and population centers are often separated by hundreds of miles. In California, for instance, an estimated 19% of electricity use, 32% of all natural gas consumption, and 88 million gallons of diesel fuel consumption are water-related. To put these numbers in perspective, consider that leaving the hot water running for 5 minutes uses as much energy as operating a 60-W light bulb for 14 hours! While California’s water supplies may be more energy-intensive than the national average due to the particularly long distances and elevation changes during water transport, about 80% of California’s water-related energy use is due to customer end-use, for example, the energy required to pressurize or heat water prior to use. Since end-use energy requirements are similar across the United States, it is likely that water-related energy use is high across the country.
The beauty is that saving water saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The California Energy Commission found that it is cheaper to save energy through water-efficiency improvements than through traditional energy-efficiency measures. American households can save water, energy, and money by implementing widely available, cost-effective technologies. Tools like WECalc provide the user with information to begin realizing those savings. “When you account for all the other benefits that flow from saving water – like lower energy bills, reduced landscaping costs, and the reduction in wastewater – water efficiency measures become very cost-effective,” said Heather Cooley, co-director of the Pacific Institute’s Water Program and one of the creators of WECalc. “The Pacific Institute has conducted economic analyses in recent years that show that myths and misunderstanding – not economics – are the biggest barriers to improving our water use efficiency. We developed WECalc as an easy-to-use public outreach and education tool that brings water and energy savings home.” The potential water and energy savings currently available nationwide are immense. WECalc makes suggestions for simple installations and behavioral changes which can offer substantial water and energy bill savings for users too. Simple actions, like installing a faucet aerator, cost only $1-4 but save $47 per year and reduce carbon emissions by 310 lb. per year. Cutting down shower time by one minute is a no-cost way to save over 100 lb. of carbon per year. [caption id="attachment_462" align="alignright" width="400" caption=" "][/caption] “The researchers spent a lot of time sweating even the smallest details,” said Bevan Griffiths-Sattenspiel of River Network. “For the layperson, just about every question in the calculator has a link that leads the user to helpful tips, definitions, or explanations of why the question is important, while for those wonks out there, the tool’s assumptions and sources are all meticulously documented so you can see just how scientifically sound the model is.” Individual actions matter: even choices of water-using appliances have a big impact on water and energy use. As water and energy managers – and individuals – look at the benefits and connections with water conservation and improvements in efficient water use, WECalc is a key tool for seeing how reducing water use helps us meet greenhouse gas targets and reduce carbon footprints. Water agencies and municipalities can encourage use of the water-energy calculator as an educational tool to allow consumers the ability to examine the greenhouse-gas emission reductions associated with water conservation and efficiency improvements. WECalc allows users to analyze their water use and make informed decisions about how to conserve water. The bottom line is that saving water saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, a win for our environment, and a win for consumers. [caption id="attachment_496" align="alignleft" width="200" caption=" "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_487" align="alignleft" width="200" caption=" "][/caption] The Pacific Institute is one of the world’s leading non-profit research and policy organizations working to create a healthier planet and sustainable communities. Based in Oakland, California, we conduct interdisciplinary research and partner with stakeholders to produce solutions that advance environmental protection, economic development, and social equity—in California, nationally, and internationally.
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