[Olympic Hiker]

I turned on the sprinkler timer the other day to water some plants in the flower garden. The soil was drying out already and one plant was looking a little wilted. On the plus side, I recently converted half the plants I water regularly in the summer months to drip irrigation. The plan is to do the same for the rest of the plants I water in the summer to drip irrigation, just have to order some more parts. I was testing out the drip irrigation the other day to make sure it all worked and noticed that the well pump turns on less frequently and runs for a shorter amount of time than the soaker hoses I used to use. So, I think it was worth the money spent and effort to install it. Guess I will find out this summer.

[uww]

[gb]

[Cyclopath]

[Cyclopath]

[BigBrunyon]

Someone tell cliff muss that his blogs are too long!! Didn't read!! It was too long.

[philfort]

[Joey]

5+ acre brush fire near Lyman, Skagit County. And so it starts.... View larger size in new window

[mike]

All this bad-mouthing Cliff and ad hominem attacks but no one is rebutting the science or even mentioning it.

[Cyclopath]

The people who declared a drought brought the science.

[altasnob]

A lot arguing about what is and what is not a drought but this declaration is based on legal definitions and the primary purpose is to allow the state to start moving money around. From ecology's website: The drought declaration was based on Washington's legal definition of drought, as "water supply is less than 75 percent of normal, resulting in undue hardships to water users and the environment." When the drought declaration is declared it allows ecology to start awarding grants. In this case, they are authorized to award up to $4.5 million in grants from Apr 17, 2024 to Aug 14, 2024. The grants can be awarded to the following entities: Counties, cities, tribes, public utility districts, water and sewer districts, conservation districts, irrigation districts, and ports. Seattle, Tacoma and Everett are all excluded from the new drought declaration (even though they received the same limited rainfall as the rest of the state) becuase these cities have reservoir storage and water management strategies that make them more resilient to drought than other systems. So if you live in one of these cities, like me, you are not even being asked to conserve any water.

[Anne Elk]

Why the 3 largest cities in western WA are excluded is beyond me - especially since Seattle residents were asked to conserve water for a short period earlier this spring. It wouldn't hurt to have everyone be more mindful of water use. Given ongoing trends it wouldn't hurt to keep the reservoirs as high as possible for as long as possible, given lower snowpack levels. Consider: the states that rely on Lake Powell and Lake Mead would be in somewhat better shape now if they'd started serious conservation before water levels dropped to the extreme danger level. I keep a bucket in the shower for toilet flushing or extra garden water in all seasons, just because I'm so cheap when it comes to utility bills. Time for more rain barrels.

[Cyclopath]

∆ I keep several buckets in the garden to collect rain water, use them on the plants (strawberries are already making flowers) and also for the stray cats and possums that live in the woods and green belt. Also the kitties prefer outdoor spice in their water.

[treeswarper]

[huron]