California Residents: Save Our Landscapes

The California Water Resources Control Board, acting on governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's vision of a 20% cutback in water use for each California resident by 2020, has proposed laws and regulations that would so severely restrict landscape and garden watering that residents could only water their trees, lawns, flowers, vegetables, and shrubs ONCE PER WEEK by 2020. They seek punishing water rate hikes, mandates based on faulty science, and unfairly apportion the requirement to cut back water use on sparsely populated counties while giving allowences to urban population centers where most residential water is used. In some locations, cutbacks will total 38% compared to 2005 watering! Send a message to the water agency, legislature, and governor that a sensible water conservation plan is in every Californian's interest, but the 20X2020 water conservation plan is unworkable and will kill our state's beautiful trees and residential landscapes.

The California Water Resources Control Board, acting on governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's vision of a 20% cutback in water use for each California resident by 2020, has proposed laws and regulations that would so severely restrict landscape and garden watering that residents could only water their trees, lawns, flowers, vegetables, and shrubs ONCE PER WEEK by 2020. They seek punishing water rate hikes, mandates based on faulty science, and unfairly apportion the requirement to cut back water use on sparsely populated counties while giving allowences to urban population centers where most residential water is used. In some locations, cutbacks will total 38% compared to 2005 watering! Send a message to the water agency, legislature, and governor that a sensible water conservation plan is in every Californian's interest, but the 20X2020 water conservation plan is unworkable and will kill our state's beautiful trees and residential landscapes.

We the undersigned are experienced gardeners who know our lawns and landscapes will not survive a permanent, across-the-board 20% cutback by 2020 in per-capita water use planned by California Governor Schwarzenegger, the state Water Control Resources Board, and the legislature. Our trees, shrubs, flowers, lawns and vegetables will die with just the single day of watering you plan to mandate. You disregard strong scientific evidence and use faulty assumptions to force these water cutbacks that range from 16% in California's heavy population centers along the coast to more than 38% in the rural areas inland. Save our landscapes. It's our water, too!