With the implications of water usage quickly becoming a hot button issue not only in Paso Robles, but around the state, many North County residents are looking for more options on how to conserve water and keep down their bills.

“Water is only becoming more and more of a precious resource,” said Jaime Lien, conservation manager at Atascadero Mutual Water Company. “We only have a limited amount of water here on the Central Coast and we are actually very sustainable in that our water actually comes from within 50 miles almost all the time from where we live. We just want to reduce that and help offset that impact.”

The need for North County residents to make those small changes that often have a drastic effect on the amount of water that is consumed is especially urgent at this time, as more than a third of the water that is pumped in North San Luis Obispo County is pulled out the ground between the months of June and September, Lien said.

“That places a huge demand on our water system,” she said.

Still, as a result of statewide and local efforts aimed at getting residents to conserve there has been an increased awareness about the current water crunch.

“With the Nacimiento Water Project and an overall state outreach towards water conservation, we are really seeing people perk up — and it goes beyond finances,” Lien said. “They are really seeing just the impact that water has on our environment.”

Paso Robles residents Gennie and Jerry Roeder said that they began to focus more attention on water conservation last year. A constant gardener, Jerry decided that instead of replanting his ailing lawn he would completely tear it out.

“We were using a lot of water and it was time to tear it out and put in a new lawn because it was getting old and it wasn’t growing right,” he said. “So I thought, ‘You know what, instead of doing that, why don’t I just tear it out and not put it back and put everything on drip.’ So that is what I did.”

With the replacement of the lawn with river rocks and bark, Gennie and Jerry ushered out the days of patchy grass, seeding, fertilizing and mowing and ushered into an era of an almost maintenance free yard. In addition, the colorful plants and trees that dot the Roeder landscape have been moved onto drip lines instead of sprinklers. The simple-to-install drip lines have made watering the plants not only easy but also a less frequent occurrence. The targeted lines require only 10 minutes of watering a day during the summer months, once every two days in the cooler months, and perhaps once a week during the winter. Contrast that to the eight sprinklers that were kicking on two times a day for half an hour to keep their lawn a vibrant and even green during the summer months and the change has added up to a huge savings for the Roeders.

“I am thrilled to death,” Gennie said of the garden that her husband installed. “I was really thrilled when I saw what it was doing to our water bill, because there were many months that it was cut in half from last year.”

Now Gennie comes outside to enjoy her yard every morning to have her coffee, feed the coy in the newly refurbished, re-circulating pond and feed the birds that the new foliage has attracted.

“I am so happy with it,” she said. “I am proud of what we have done and the fact that it is saving water for us.”

Jerry, for whom the garden has been a labor of love, agreed.

“I would never have a lawn again,” he said.

In fact, lawns are a primary source of largely unnecessary water usage. Between 55 to 65 percent of the water that is pumped out of the ground in the North County is directly applied to the landscape, Lien said. Still, the good news is that more and more North County residents are taking notice of the importance of water conservation and are taking steps to curb their water consumption. To assist residents interested in making such changes, the city of Paso Robles and the North County Partners in Water Conservation are offering their second series of summer workshops free to the public. The Summer Landscape Workshop Series, taught by Lien, has been popular amongst North County residents with at least one of the workshops completely filling up when they ran in June and July. A total of three new classes will be offered throughout the month of August.

Many of the changes that are prescribed in the classes are often simple to make. A lot of them are simply lifestyle changes, Lien said, and are often as easy as being more aware of when and how often the sprinklers are coming on. Still another focus of the classes is planting drought-tolerant plants as opposed to their water-guzzling counterparts.

“We have over 175 plants that, once established, require minimal water in the summer in Northern San Luis Obispo County,” Lien said. “And they are all very colorful, a lot of them are food producers, some are native plants. So we look at having seasonal interest, having color year round, we look at incorporating wildlife into our landscapes.”

Seating is limited for the Sustainable Landscape Workshop Series and registration is required. To register, call 237-3861. Visit www.pasorobleswaterproject.com and www.amwc.us for useful tips and information.



Sustainable Landscape Workshop Series II:

Sustainable Landscaping 101: Incorporating Water Resources Friendly Design Into Your Landscape

Saturday, Aug. 16, 12 to 2 p.m.

Paso Robles Library, Conference Room



Plant Selection for North County Landscapes

Saturday, Aug. 23, 9:30 to 11 a.m.

Centennial Park, Live Oak Conference Room



Watering Your Landscape 101

Saturday, Aug. 23, 12 to 2 p.m.

Centennial Park, Live Oak Conference Room





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