OKLA. CITY —
According to national data reported in the Residential Landscape Architecture Trends survey, the trend of outdoor living space is continuing to grow in popularity among homeowners. This Friday through Sunday, Oklahomans will have the opportunity to have their outdoor living questions answered by experts in landscaping, remodeling, cooking and design at the OKC Home Outdoor Living Show at Oklahoma State Fair Park.

With more than 250 exhibitors expected, the show will help inspire homeowners with new, money-saving ideas and trends. Twenty-three of those exhibitors are Edmond businesses.

Some of this year’s show features include:

• HGTV’s Justin Cave, star of HGTV’s “Groundbreakers,” will present the top ways to upgrade an outdoor space as well as ideas for low-cost gardening and landscaping. He also will demonstrate how to create show-stopping container gardens, one of his easiest tricks for adding big impact to outdoor spaces.

• Storm Shelter Feature will present nearly 20 storm shelter companies allowing Oklahomans to shop and compare in one location. A storm shelter scavenger hunt will make comparing entertaining and will offer shelter accessories and safety items as prizes.

•  Butterfly House and Pocket Prairie Garden will allow visitors to experience more than 500 butterflies in the Butterfly House, a glass structure with a walkthrough for attendees to observe a variety of butterfly species. Additionally, the house will be surrounded by a pocket prairie garden designed by Olthia. The pocket prairie garden concept incorporates plants indigenous to the state including native grasses and wildflowers that thrive in Oklahoma’s harsh weather conditions. Prairie gardens are less expensive than a typical landscape design because they start with seeds instead of fully developed plants, grow quickly and require little to no maintenance or watering.

• Show attendees also can learn how to build a disaster preparedness kit and develop an action plan for their family by taking part in the American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma’s disaster preparedness education. Activities will be offered to help make disaster training enjoyable and less intimidating for children. The Red Cross also will provide information about storm shelter grants and funding for homeowners trying to rebuild from the 2013 storms.

• Pergola Supreme will offer landscape inspiration with two outdoor kitchens, a custom pergola and pavilion, waterfalls, fire pits and a stained concrete farmhouse table. Additionally, Tony’s Tree Plantation will offer education on trees native to Oklahoma in their feature landscape exhibit.

• The outdoor kitchen stage will feature live cooking demonstrations using the latest in grilling technology. Chefs will share recipes for quick and easy family meals as well as demonstrate how to use the Green Egg and pellet grills to cook traditional grilled foods and non-traditional fare like grilled pizzas and pies. Attendees can sample the meals as they learn tips to make their next outdoor barbeque a hit.

• The outdoor plaza will include a variety of entertainment including wine tastings, live music, a children’s playground and plant sale.

To help storm victims in their efforts to rebuild, Moore residents will receive free admission to the OKC Home Outdoor Living Show all weekend with a valid Oklahoma driver’s license with a Moore address. All Oklahoma teachers will receive free admission to the show on Friday only with a valid school ID.

The OKC Home Outdoor Living Show is a three-day event this weekend that will showcase ideas for remodeling, home improvement and outdoor living. Adult admission is $9, and admission for children ages 12 and under is free. For a $2 discount, tickets can be purchased online at www.homeshowokc.com or at the customer service desk at Buy for Less stores. Show hours are Friday noon to 9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information about the event, visit the website or call 800-395-1350.

Four easy steps

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OCEANSIDE — By March 31 phase I of the Mission Avenue improvement project will be halfway completed and the north side of the street will be fully open for pedestrian use.

“March 31 is a big milestone,” Terry Jones, principal with Arcadis Company, said. “We’ll be halfway done. People can use the sidewalk and enjoy it.”

Currently a narrow fenced-in walkway is open to pedestrians on the north side of the street, as roadwork and sidewalk replacement is under way.

Businesses have done their best to endure the roadwork, which began in November, to improve the road from Clementine Street to Coast Highway 101.

During initial roadwork Jones said businesses reported sales had dropped by half. At that time roadwork was under way between Clementine Street and Ditmar Street. Most businesses along that section of Mission Avenue have side street entrances.

“In the beginning I heard disastrous numbers of over 50 percent,” Jones said. “Businesses were upset. Now, after time, people know it’s not as bad as they were first commenting.”

During the last two months, in stage two of the phase I project, impacted businesses included restaurants with street front patio seating and stores with only front entrances.

Alyce Solomon, 20-year owner of North County Trophies, said the roadwork has had a significant impact.

“Even regular customers are having a hard time finding us,” Solomon said.

Solomon said she is not looking forward to road changes that will require customers to reverse angle park.

Businesses along Mission Avenue work to attract customers during construction. Reduced business access and distant parking are challenges. Photo by Promise Yee

Others business owners said they are willing to wait through road and sidewalk improvements with the hope changes will have a positive impact on business.

“Everyone is looking forward to the project being completed,” Nathan Mertz, city project manager, said.

“The street has been the same way for decades. Initially there was shock.”

During roadwork, building renovations to prepare for the opening of Mission Ave Bar and Grill have moved forward.

The new business on the 700 block of Mission Avenue is expected to open while work on the street and sidewalk is still in progress, possibly right outside the business’ front door.

Accommodations have been made to ensure customer access during construction.

“Two guys are opening a bar and grill on Mission Avenue,” Jones said. “Construction will be right in front of the new store. They’re real positive with it.”

Business owners said the contractor has been very receptive to business concerns.

The city and contractor have kept businesses informed of the project timeline, and discussed next steps at MainStreet Oceanside monthly meetings.

Jones said rapport has improved as businesses gain understanding of the process and business concerns have been addressed.

“We managed the project with business owners in mind and have taken into account their ideas and feedback.”

Business owners who attended the last MainStreet meeting said they are pleased with the way the contractor and city have moved through process.

During the project additional traffic and pedestrian access signage has been added, a private parking lot was open to the public, and safety fencing was lowered and lit for greater visibility.

Starting April 1 improvements will continue on the south side of the street. Work includes putting in a new traffic light and conduits on Coast Highway 101.

“We have a lot of work to do still,” Mertz said.

Completion on the roadwork and landscaping is expected by June 19.

 

VERO BEACH — The City Council voted Tuesday night to create the city’s first Economic Development Zone.

By a 4-1 vote, the council formed the zone, which includes the historic downtown, at the urging of a group of downtown business owners. As properties in the zone appreciate in value, the higher taxes will pay into a trust fund, and from there will pay for improvement projects.

The zone includes about 530 commercial real estate parcels in some of the longest inhabited parts of the city and is roughly framed by U.S. 1 on the east and near 20th Avenue to the west, and the North Relief Canal south to 16th Street.

A recent assessment of properties in the zone counted almost $192 million in total, about 9 percent of Vero Beach’s taxable value.

Only commercial properties would pay taxes into the zone’s trust fund. Areas in the new zone include the U.S. 1 corridor, the Arts District, the 14th Avenue and 17th Street business districts and the Twin Pairs through downtown.

The new zone also includes the Original Town neighborhood. Subdivided for the Indian River Farms Land Co. in 1913, it is now a mix of homes, apartments, offices and churches.

Only commercial land may be involved in an Economic Development Zone, said architect Peter Jones, who chairs a committee of area business and land owners who support the trust fund. However, adjacent areas might benefit from sidewalk improvements and historical markers.

The committee has been meeting for more than a year, after a city ordinance passed in May 2012 allowed tax increment financing, which captures any increase in taxes for a certain area because of increased property value and puts it in a trust fund for improvements to that area.

The amount isn’t likely to be large, at least not at first, according to a report by Timothy McGarry, the city’s director of planning and development. Finance officials told him a 1 percent rise in property values in the zone would generate about $3,700 at the city’s current tax rate. Five consecutive such years would garner $56,000; after 10 years, $210,000. Jones said there also may be state and federal grant money possible.

Tuesday’s dissenting vote was from Councilwoman Pilar Turner. She expressed concern that beach and Miracle Mile property owners might someday want their own Economic Development Zones, further reducing the city’s tax base.

“They’re getting special treatment in (the downtown) area and not others,” Turner said.

Twenty-one downtown business and property owners will serve on a new city advisory committee to develop suggested capital projects inside the downtown area. Jones said so far only concepts for projects have been discussed.

City Manager James O’Connor said City Council will have the final say on how money in the trust fund is spent. Some ideas discussed so far include landscaping, added parking and decorative banners.

Lakeway City Council members approved a special-use permit for a childcare facility at the southeast corner of Lohmans Crossing and Rolling Green Drive at the March 17 council meeting.

The 8,000-square-foot childcare facility, which will be called Little Sunshine Playhouse, sits on 1.3 acres owned by Lakeway LS Development, LLC. Developer Stephen Brown said the facility would house 136 students on a daily basis and that the facility will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Their business model is to provide valet service for their clients,” Troy Anderson, director of building and development services, said. “When the children are delivered to the facility, an employee comes out to meet them at their vehicle and unloads the passengers. It provides for a quick turnover of cars, and they aren’t expecting too much queuing of vehicles.”

The assisted pickup method results in car lines no longer than two or three cars, Brown said. The facility is made to look like a “high-end” home, Brown said, using stucco and rock.

“Outdoor playtime is from 10 to 11 (a.m.) and 4 to 5 (p.m.), so not super early in the morning or obviously not late in the evening,” Brown said. “The unique features include kid cams, so you can dial into where your child is in the facility and see them at any time of the day.”

One resident attended the meeting to voice their support of the project, and several other residents emailed letters of support.

“I endorse this facility,” resident Peter Brodnitz said. “I was not too pleased with some of the earlier ideas about how to use this lot. I think that the architecture here looks just lovely. I’d like to speak to the architect about landscaping the driveway area, but overall I think it’s a good idea.”

Council members asked questions of how traffic would be handled and were informed by Anderson that entrances will be built both off of Lohmans Crossing and Rolling Green Drive. Councilman Joe Bain said several residents had complained to him about the potential for a playscape on the property and said he would like to see a solid fence around the playscape, but the matter was dropped when other councilmembers disagreed.

“I love the idea of the kiddy cam,” Councilwoman Dee Ann Burns said. “When I took my little boy to preschool, I stayed outside and looked through the window. You need kiddy cams.”

The motion to grant the special use permit passed unanimously.

Tainter Menomin Lake Improvement Association, a nonprofit volunteer organization, was formed in 1990.

“It has a long history of trying to identifying timely and current issues that will create a better situation and build partnerships that assist in improving the situation,” said Ron Verdon, the president of the association and former department chair and program director for the art program at UW-Stout. “I think a big part of [TMLIA] is education, so my educational background is valuable.”

The retiree felt getting involved in the lake association was extremely important after recognizing how much he uses the surrounding lakes for fishing: “We have a wonderful opportunity here to work as a community to pull people together and create a much better environment than we’ve seen in the past.”

As resident of Lake Tainter, a farm owner and city property owner, Verdon and his wife feel that they are able to contribute ideas from a comprehensive perspective. But, he admits, in addition to both his knowledge and that of the TMLIA’s board members, there are many other partnerships that play a key role in a successful recovery of Menomonie waters. “What we really know is that none of us can do it by ourselves,” he said. “We need to partner with the county, conservation office, city, and Department of Natural Resources.”

Improving the lakes

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wrote a proposal with input from the public and the lake association. The document reports on the Phospohorus Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) and is what Verdon likes to call the recovery program for Lake Tainter and Menomin. The document was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2012.

“It recognizes — from not only a state level, but also a federal level — the impaired waters that we have,” Verdon said. The report helped to establish a plan to achieve the association’s goal: Clean and safe waters by 2018.

In October 2013, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources also approved an erosion grant that would run through June 30, 2014. “The purpose of this grant was to identify an effective strategy to deal with [58] erosion sites on the Red Cedar river above Lake Tainter,” Verdon said.

In 2012, a position was established on the TMLIA board of directors for a student to lend a voice for UW-Stout. Danny Jay, an applied social science major, has been the most recent director, remaining on the board since January 2013. “We established this position because we felt it would be extremely critical to have student participation and input,” Verdon said. “Danny has been doing a wonderful job of sharing insights and bringing student involvement to us.”

Jay has been able to raise awareness on campus among UW-Stout students. “Last semester I started a collective of students who are interested in promoting lake health and lake benefits on campus,” said Jay. “As a result, many students began working on lake-related research projects. Other students made an effort to assist in volunteer opportunities that assist with cleaning the lake.”

In fact, last fall Sigma Lambda Chi, an honors construction organization, assisted TMLIA by surveying multiple cross-sections of the Red Cedar River. The data provided critical information for the consulting group, hired by TMLIA, to write the erosion report, which was funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“They had a very keen interest in the environment and what I really liked about it was the fact that they were utilizing expertise from their own program,” Verdon said.

Not only were the students able to apply their skills learned in the classroom to real life, they also greatly contributed to the association and the community. “Without their commitment, it would have been very challenging for us to put [the project] on a very short schedule,” Verdon said. “We were right at the end of the season and needed to get it done before the snow hit — otherwise this would have been pushed out another year.”

With the help of UW-Stout students, TMLIA will be looking for a finished report this week — just a mere three months since the project started in November.

Verdon and Jay stress that there are several ways for students and the public to get involved. The annual Red Cedar Land, Water, and People Conference was held at UW-Stout Memorial Student Center on March 13. Verdon noted that this event not only educates the community, but also “provides students, the general public, and professionals an opportunity to network, and is very instrumental in building these partnerships.”

The networking opportunity is not limited to the local community of Menomonie; the conference also brought in regional and national speakers.

On April 5, the association is holding a Waterfront Landscaping Workshop in the Dunn County Judicial Center from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The workshop will inform lake shore owners — and anyone else interested — how to landscape their waterfront in a way that ensures the best water and shoreline quality.

Although the details have yet to be finalized, Jay is working to connect students, faculty and community members who are interested in learning about the lake. “At these meetings, we are hoping to educate, brainstorm, conduct research, and work on changing and promoting lake-related policies,” he said.

For more information about the Tainter Menomin Lake Improvement Association, visit tmlia.org. Email Ron Verdon, rverdon@att.net, or Danny Jay, jayd2533@my.uwstout.edu, with any questions or to volunteer to collaborate in the efforts to improve Menomonie waters.

17 Mar 2014: Analysis

From forests in Queens to wetlands in China, planners and scientists are promoting a new approach that incorporates experiments into landscape restoration projects to determine what works to the long-term benefit of nature and what does not.

by richard conniff

Restoring degraded ecosystems — or creating new ones — has become a huge global business. China, for instance, is planting 90 million acres of forest in a swath across its northern provinces. And in North America, just in the past two decades, restoration projects costing $70 billion have

attempted to restore or re-create 7.4 million acres of marsh, peatland, floodplain, mangrove, and other wetlands.

This patchwork movement to rebuild the natural world ought to be good news. Such projects are, moreover, likely to become far more common as the world rapidly urbanizes and as cities, new and old, turn to green infrastructure to address problems like climate change, flood control, and pollution of nearby waterways. But hardly anyone does a proper job of measuring the results, and when they do, it generally turns out that ecological restorations seldom function as intended.

A 2012 study in PLOS Biology, for instance, looked at 621 wetland projects and found most had failed to deliver promised results, or match the performance of natural systems, even decades after completion. Likewise,

A new study finds more than 75 percent of river restorations failed to meet minimal performance targets.

an upcoming study by Margaret A. Palmer at the University of Maryland reports that more than 75 percent of river and stream restorations failed to meet their own minimal performance targets. “They may be pretty projects,” says Palmer, “but they don’t provide ecological benefits.”

Hence the increasing interest in what Alexander Felson, an urban ecologist and landscape architect at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, calls “designed experiments” — that is, experiments designed by ecologists and incorporated into development and landscape restoration projects to test which alternative approaches work best — or whether a particular approach works at all. The idea is both to improve the project at hand, says Felson, and also to provide a scientific basis for making subsequent projects more successful.

At first glance, the designed experiment idea might seem to echo practices that already exist. Environmental consultants have been a part of most development projects for decades. But they almost never do long-term research on a project, says Felson. “Adaptive management,” the idea of continually monitoring environmental projects and making steady improvements over time — or “learning by doing” — has also been around in ecological circles since the 1970s. But a recent survey in Biological Conservation found “surprisingly few practical, on-ground examples of adaptive management.” In part, that’s because “long-term investigations are notoriously difficult to establish and maintain.”

To deal with that challenge, Felson proposes incorporating ecologists into the design team, so that designers and ecologists build a relationship and complement each other’s strengths from the start. As part of its Million Tree Initiative, for instance, New York City was proposing in 2007 to plant almost 2000 acres of new and restored forest over a ten-year period. The project fit the city’s sustainability agenda to reduce air pollution, sequester

As part of New York’s Million Tree Initiative, a scientific team proposed experiments for the planned forests.

carbon dioxide, control stormwater run-off, and provide wildlife habitat.

But planners didn’t have much basis for determining which species were more likely to achieve those goals, or where to plant them. The usual feedback about whether an urban tree planting project is successful boils down to a single question: “Are they alive or are they dead?” Nor could science provide much guidance. A literature search turned up only a single long-term study of new urban forests planted with native tree species.

So Felson and a team of scientists and designers proposed designed experiments for New York’s planned forests — plantings with different species, in varying configurations, some with compost or other amendments, some without — to learn what worked best.

The proposal represented a compromise between two sensible but contradictory ideas. On the one hand, it is widely accepted that the best time to plant a tree is 50 years ago — or, failing that, right now. On the other hand, Felson writes, you “would not build a wastewater treatment plant if it did not achieve water-quality standards, so why plant an urban forest without knowing that it performs the intended function?”

Because experimental plots are not typically scenic, the ecologists worked with park managers to disguise the test plots within a more natural-looking forest. The first test forest went in at Kissena Corridor Park in Queens in 2010, and a second at Willow Lake in 2011, on the site of the 1964 World’s Fair.

The ambition is to study traits like carbon sequestration and how species patterns change over decades. But the study is already producing results that may be useful within the context of the Million Tree Initiative, according to Felson and Yale co-authors Mark Bradford and Emily

The Chinese park features a terraced system of 21 ponds, designed to filter urban runoff.

Oldfield: If the goal is to get trees to canopy height as quickly as possible, for instance, competition from shrubs will actually make them grow faster, not slower. Some trees, like basswood, do better in more diverse plantings; others, like oaks, prefer less diversity. Compost doesn’t seem to make much difference for the first two years but kicks in during year three.

The designed experiment idea has begun to turn up in restoration projects around the world, notably in China. The northeastern city of Tianjin, for instance, was struggling in 2003 to deal with a 54-acre former shooting range that had become an illegal dumping ground and was also heavily polluted by urban runoff. It hired Kongjian Yu, founder of the Beijing design firm Turenscape, who had trained at Harvard with Richard T.T. Forman, a leading thinker in urban landscape ecology.

The result, Qiaoyuan Wetland Park, opened in 2008, with none of the great lawns and formal plantings seen in conventional Chinese parks. Instead, Yu’s design features a naturalized landscape of ponds, grasses, and reeds, with walkways and viewing platforms for local residents.

Traditional landscape design in China is “based on art and form,” says Yu. “My practice is to find a scientific basis.” The park features a terraced system of 21 ponds, designed to filter urban runoff as it moves through the site. Yu calls it “peasant” landscaping, based on traditional rice farms. But the ponds are of different sizes and depths, with the aim of monitoring how

As urban crowding increases, cities may require new projects to deliver multiple ecosystem services.

each microhabitat affects water quality, PH values, and the character of the evolving plant community.

Ecologists on staff at Turenscape and Yu’s students at Beijing University do the monitoring. Among other results, they recently reported that three families of Siberian weasel now call the park home, a remarkable development in a city of 7.5 million people. Yu acknowledges that the experimental results don’t hold much interest for city officials, who have sometimes tried to replace “messy” reeds with playgrounds and formal plantings. But Yu has employed the results from Tianjin to improve his subsequent projects, which also incorporate designed experiments.

The pell mell pace of urban development in China, combined with the often catastrophic environmental after-effects, together create a demand for landscape designs that do more than look pretty, according to Yu. The usual engineering solutions — for instance, “larger pipes, more powerful pumps, or stronger dikes” to handle monsoon flooding — often just aggravate other problems, like the water shortages and falling groundwater levels that now afflict 400 Chinese cities. Yu sees naturalized landscapes as

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urban “green sponges” to retain and filter water, with designed experiments to show whether or not they deliver the promised services.

The goal of incorporating designed experiments more broadly in restoration and development projects is likely to meet resistance on both sides. Developers may regard ecologists as natural adversaries, and research as a costly nuisance. The idea of working within the agenda of developers and government agencies may also strike some ecologists as a fatal compromise.

But China is no means the only place with rapidly worsening environmental issues. As urban crowding increases worldwide and the effects of climate change become more evident, cities may require every new development or restoration project to deliver multiple ecosystem services. The stricter financial standards of the green marketplace will also oblige project managers to demonstrate that those services are real and quantifiable.

“There are certainly problems with what we’ve been doing in restoration projects, but it doesn’t mean we should stop,” says Franco Montalto, a Drexel University environmental engineer who has written about the designed experiment idea. “We should be trying to figure out what doesn’t work and stop doing that, and figure out what does work and do more of it. That’s what you learn from experiments.”

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The Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association, Inc.  is proud to present the 44th annual Spring Home Show at the Salem Civic Center on March 28-30.

Show hours are Friday (March 28): 2 to 7 p.m.; Saturday (March 29): 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday (March 30): noon to 5 p.m.

Admission is $8 for adults, which is good all weekend with SCC hand stamp, and free for ages 18 and younger.

To plan your visit, go to www.theSpringHomeShow.com.

The show is all about your home and offers a broad selection of 160 local home-related businesses displaying and selling the latest in products and services. You will find insulation, roofing, pest control, blinds/shutters, HVAC, household items, contractors, energy saving ideas, landscaping, and much more. For the consumer who is planning to build, remodel or enhance their home and/or outdoor living space, it is an opportunity to learn the most current design trends, talk with local professionals, save money by taking advantage of “show only” discounts, watch demonstrations, receive giveaways and win valuable prizes.

This year’s theme is “Bright Ideas,” and attendees are encouraged to ask each vendor/exhibitor the bright idea that he or she has to share.

Meet Rob Jessee, local credit expert and extreme couponer, who will be offering 30-minute sessions on how to cut your grocery bill in half, why everybody should use coupons, the differences in coupons, when you should or should not stockpile, time-saving ways to get organized, and much more. The sessions are located in Parlor A. Here is Rob’s schedule:

• Friday, 3/28/14: 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
• Saturday, 3/29/14: noon; 3 p.m.; and 5 p.m.
• Sunday, 3/30/14: 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

See Window World’s custom-built Orange County Chopper, built by Paul Teutul, Sr., located in the rear of the arena. Bring the kids to build a free “Build and Grow” wooden project compliments of Lowe’s all weekend and located in the far left of the arena. A tree giveaway tradition will continue and on Saturday (10 a.m. and 2 p.m.), 1,000 white pine seedlings will be given away.

RRHBA is a nonprofit, professional trade association that enjoys a strong membership of more than 300 member firms. Since 1955, RRHBA has proudly served the counties of Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin Roanoke; and the cities of Roanoke Salem. Visit RRHBA at www.rrhba.com. The Spring Home Show’s media partners are WDBJ 7 Television, Star Country (radio), The Roanoke Times and Q99 (radio).

Submitted by Melody Williams, Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association

A few weeks ago, I got to see Californians experience something they hadn’t in a long time: a downpour. It was a welcome gift, but it wasn’t enough. Even with the wet weather, roughly 90 percent of California is still in severe or exceptional drought.

California can withstand this drought — and the arid days ahead brought on by climate change — if it expands water-saving measures. These solutions are already benefiting the state. Los Angeles uses the same amount of water today as it did in 1970 despite adding 1 million people.

Water efficiency, recycling, and other local supplies will help California flourish in a drier future. But some lawmakers are stuck in the past.

On Wednesday Congressmen Doc Hastings, Devin Nunes, and other House Republicans will host a field hearing in Fresno. They will complain about NRDC’ court victory last week that put science and health of the water supply ahead of outdated water management ideas. And they will claim that if we strip away environmental protections for the Bay-Delta, build more reservoirs, and allow the agriculture sector to draw more water, then California can return to wetter days.

The truth is you can’t get more water from reservoirs that are empty. The problem in California isn’t environmental safeguards. It isn’t a dearth of storage capacity. It’s a lack of rain. Sacrificing the Bay-Delta ecosystem and building more canals and reservoirs won’t usher in the rain clouds or create more water.

The marina at Folsom Lake, February 16, 2014.

Concrete-heavy approaches were the preferred solutions in the 20th century when the West experienced the wettest time in the past millennium and California had access to plenty of rushing rivers. Those days have passed. California has damned all its major rivers, taken so much from the San Joaquin that it went dry in stretches, and overdrawn from a Colorado River that is running at record lows.

But California has another way forward. It can maximize the potential of its largest sources of new water: efficiency, stormwater capture, recycling, and groundwater cleanup. If the state fully tapped these resources, it could provide more water than California gets from the Bay-Delta. This is a 21st century approach to a changing climate, and it will make the state far more resilient than empty reservoirs.

Indeed, it already has. Homeowners across the state have seen how super-efficient toilets and showerheads, Energy Star washing machines, and drought tolerant landscaping can dramatically their lower water use. And San Diego, Long Beach, Los Angeles and other cities have seen the benefits of water recycling, groundwater banking, and rainwater harvesting. An NRDC report found that catching rainwater falling on rooftops alone could meet between 21 and 75 percent of the water supply needs of several major U.S. cities.

Cities have also realized that making efficient use of existing supplies is cheaper than building massive new infrastructure. It would cost $2.5 billion to deliver the same amount of water from the proposed Temperance Flat as California water agencies could get for $450 million from recycling programs.

Similar water and financial savings await farmers. Right now the agriculture sector accounts for 80 percent of all water use in California. While some farmers have invested in advanced systems to use their water more efficiently, more than half of the irrigated acreage in California still relies on less efficient flood and furrow techniques. That presents a huge opportunity for the agricultural community to improve crop yields, maintain farm income, and save water.

California’s drought affects everyone in the state, from farmers to fishermen, business owners to suburban residents, and everyone has a role to play in using precious water resources as wisely and efficiently as possible. We can’t make it rain, but we can take charge of investing in solutions that help the state thrive — even when reservoirs run dry.

Photo credit: Jen Estro

The Greeley Tribune Home Garden Show kicked off Friday with close to 200 vendors and a big crowd before the doors even opened at the Island Grove Events Center and Exhibition Hall in Greeley.

Sharon and Frank Fronek of Greeley have attended the show for more than 20 years and say they always look forward to it.

“This is fabulous,” said Sharon. “A few years back this is where I found where to buy my new windows and this year we are looking for upgrade ideas for our bathroom and kitchen.”

It might be hard to attend the show and not find what you are looking for when it comes to gardening and home improvement.

Furthermore, you can be surprised to find products you didn’t even know existed, like 4×4 side by side ATVs powered by electricity or fuel.

While the focus is on home decor and gardening, the show features everything from health checks to weight loss products, pet products, and more.

The Greeley MOMS connection group, which uploads weekly blogs for the Greeley Tribune, was there Friday to show support for the community.

“We are here to let mothers and fathers — mainly the younger ones — know the different resources available in Greeley. We at times can even entertain them and in a sense show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” said John Daly, one of the seven blog writers in the group.

Admission and parking are free. The nice weather Friday made it more enjoyable for those who had to park far away because of the crowd.

Landscaping companies take advantage of the large turnout the event is known for to build relationships with potential customers and close business with one or two.

“This show sets our whole work year schedule and gives us good recognition,” said Jeff Fisher, estimator and designer for Fisher Landscaping, Inc.

He said Fisher Landscaping, Inc., is a local family owned and operated business that has been part of the show for 22 years.

This year they exhibit a 60-by-50 foot area in the Event Center that features an outdoor living space that took three and a half days to construct.

If they were building it in a backyard, Fisher said, it would take them two to three weeks.

With inlaid bricks, natural flowers, stones, grass, and water features, the exhibit creates the feel of an outdoor backyard ready for a barbecue or a garden wedding.

For vendors, the show is all about reaching out to attendees and promoting the best features of their businesses. For attendees, its a time to explore the gardening and home market as well as to prepare for the warm seasons to come.

Bryan Reynolds of Greeley said he has been coming to the event since it began 31 years ago.

“We love to come here,” he said. “It’s a time to see the new products and meet with whoever is out and about — we always find friends here.”

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