Chronicle Staff Writer Peter Fimrite writes that the recent dose of rainy weather seems to have buoyed the hopes of California’s water municipalities, but measurements taken in the Sierra Nevada show there is still not enough snow pack to eliminate drought conditions.
The ritual hike into the snowy wilds to survey the state’s frozen water supply found less snow than normal for this time of year in the Sierras.
Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, after finishing the last measurement at Phillips Station next to Highway 50, remarked: “What we’re finding this year is really pretty close to last year”.
It is easy to look at what was your dead lawn, see green grass and think “wow, maybe the drought is over and the prices of water will go down…perhaps my interest in saving money with a synthetic lawn isn’t necessary. Unfortunately, even if the drought was to end today, the cost of water will continue to rise. In his very informative article titled: ‘As we use less, we could pay more’, Kelly Zito, SF Chronicle staff, writes: “The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the largest water district in the region, is leaning toward 10 percent annual rate increases over the next four years. Marin Municipal Water District plans a 7.3 percent bump”. This informative article can be found by going to: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/19/MNU41732JU.DTL
The average lawn requires 55,000 gallons of water a year. Unfortunately, most people over-water their lawn, causing that amount to jump up to 75,000 gallons a year or more. Getting an artificial lawn for the future just makes sense, both cost-wise and for the environment.
