Get rid of your lawn and make money

Have an ugly lawn and still water it? Well stop and get rid of it! Santa Clara Valley Water district now offers rebates to replace your lawn with a low water using landscape.

The process is pretty simple:

1. Call your water company and schedule a water usage audit
2. Submit your application to the water district
3. The water district will send you a list of approved plants and ask you for a planting plan (you can draw one and fax it in)
4. Once you send in your plan and final application the district will approve the plan
5. You can now hire someone to do the work or do it yourself
6. Once the project is complete call the district or your water company for final inspection
7. Collect your money from the district ($1 a square foot)

I am currently at step 3.

You can find more information at your local water district website. For Santa Clara valley you can find more rebates and details at http://www.valleywater.org/programs/rebates.aspx.

Golf courses are exempt from the new drought restrictions

Here is a quote from https://www.sjwater.com/news/topic/new-drought-restrictions

"Use of water for outside plants, lawn, landscape, and turf areas more often than every other day, with even numbered addresses watering on even numbered days of the month and odd numbered addresses watering on the odd numbered days of the month, except that this provision shall not apply to commercial nurseries, golf courses and other water-dependent industries."

So they are asking us to reduce water use by 30% and exempting golf courses. There is just too much wrong with that...

The average golf course uses 312,000 gallons of water per day and there are 850 golf courses in California, which works out to about 260 Million gallons of water a day...

Sources: 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91363837 
http://www2.gcsaa.org/gcm/2005/oct/pdfs/green_67-72_oct.pdf
http://www.sjenvironment.org/waterconservation

2 weeks after turning off the sprinklers

This is what my backyard looks like after 2 weeks of watering using shower water and no sprinklers. I have now reduced my water use by another 650 gallons a week.

The peach tree loves it

Simple way to turn off your sprinklers

1. Turn off your sprinkler system
2. Get a 110V water pump like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CPZTEK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3. Attach a hose to the output connection
4. Make sure you use a biodegradable shampoo/soap when you take a shower
5. Take a shower in a bathroom that has a bath make sure to plug the bathtub so the water doesn't drain
6. Once done taking the shower place the intake of your pump into the tub
7. Turn the pump on and start watering your garden

Typically a single shower is enough to water 300-500 sq. ft.