Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S • Hacker News Board

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#11

Post by ssmoot » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 9:47 PM UTC

josephschmoe wrote: post #4

We really, really need to stop growing lawn grass as a region.

I'm only 1 season in, but clover is nice.

A part of the grass thing I think is the fairly recent desire to have a pure Fescue/Bermuda/etc grass lawn.

I don't remember why, but a few months ago it popped into my head: You know, when I was a kid in Harlingen, there was clover everywhere. We'd pick a bit out of lawns as we roamed the neighborhood and chew on it. It's been decades since I've seen a neighborhood like that...

So I bought some clover seed and spread it around. Within just a couple weeks (4 or 5 days of daily watering at the outset to establish it) it was crazy green, spread through most of the lawn, while not being disruptive to the grass. The grass actually seems to be benefitting. It is chocking out weeds OTOH, so win win win. Overall my lawn is a whole lot brighter/greener/more-alive and it doesn't take more than the twice weekly watering schedule allowed by DFW's water conservation ordinances.

Now at the height of summer my lawn looks better than most of my neighbors and unlike the retirees' manicured lawns I'm not out there watering with a hose (a loophole the water conservation ordinance allows to please the demographic) daily.

I just thought it was noteworthy that there's a middle-ground between green painted gravel like Sun City, AZ, and golf-course lawns.

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#12

Post by humanrebar » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 9:47 PM UTC

pacificmint wrote: post #10

josephschmoe wrote: post #4

We really, really need to stop growing lawn grass as a region.

You seem to be overestimating the amount water we use for lawns. Agriculture uses 77% of all water in California. Residential is less than 14%, with half of that being indoor use. I am all in favor of low water gardening, but you are not going to save us from the drought by getting rid of lawns.

Yeah, but agriculture feeds people. Lawns... look nice?

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#13

Post by humanrebar » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 9:48 PM UTC

Zikes wrote: post #6

josephschmoe wrote: post #4

We really, really need to stop growing lawn grass as a region.

Funny enough, that would require changes to laws first: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/19/california-couple-faces... I would love it if I could just throw a bunch of gravel down around my house and never have to worry about mowing again...

Well, there is a middle ground involving heartier plants that require little watering (and less maintenance to boot).

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#14

Post by Retric » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 9:54 PM UTC

danso wrote: post #5

I think this excellent feature also serves as a great example of the shortcomings of maps. When I saw the tweeted screenshot of the most recent version of this map, I thought, "Oh shit, the drought is all over the place!" However, actually going to the article and seeing the D3 animation...I see that it's...kind of the same as before? That is, still not great, but not overall more of a severe drought? Or is it? Just…

The map is just for this summer, so it's not really trying to show a progression. Just which areas are in continuous drought vs a 1 off.

An annual map going back a 100 or so years would be vary interesting, but I don't think we have that data.

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#15

Post by fleitz » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 9:56 PM UTC

josephschmoe wrote: post #4

We really, really need to stop growing lawn grass as a region.

Not growing rice may also help.

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#16

Post by positr0n » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 9:58 PM UTC

ssmoot wrote: post #11

josephschmoe wrote: post #4

We really, really need to stop growing lawn grass as a region.

I'm only 1 season in, but clover is nice. A part of the grass thing I think is the fairly recent desire to have a pure Fescue/Bermuda/etc grass lawn. I don't remember why, but a few months ago it popped into my head: You know, when I was a kid in Harlingen, there was clover everywhere. We'd pick a bit out of lawns as we roamed the neighborhood and chew on it. It's been decades since I've seen a neighborhood like that…

> watering with a hose (a loophole...)

Are you sure that's a loophole? I've seen statistics that hand watering and drip irrigation systems are much less wasteful than sprinklers. And sprinklers are the only thing that are banned to twice-weekly in my region of DFW at least.

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#17

Post by lotharbot » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 10:05 PM UTC

humanrebar wrote: post #13

Zikes wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny enough, that would require changes to laws first: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/19/california-couple-faces... I would love it if I could just throw a bunch of gravel down around my house and never have to worry about mowing again...

Well, there is a middle ground involving heartier plants that require little watering (and less maintenance to boot).

Denver Water coined the term "xeriscape" (xeros is Greek for "dry") to describe this. They have extensive documentation on how to make it happen, as well as a xeriscaped garden you can tour at their headquarters.

http://www.denverwater.org/conservation/xeriscape/

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#18

Post by jqm » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 10:06 PM UTC

humanrebar wrote: post #12

pacificmint wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be overestimating the amount water we use for lawns. Agriculture uses 77% of all water in California. Residential is less than 14%, with half of that being indoor use. I am all in favor of low water gardening, but you are not going to save us from the drought by getting rid of lawns.

Yeah, but agriculture feeds people. Lawns... look nice?

A very good point. But most agriculture water in California is used in livestock production... esp. Alfalfa.

If water for agriculture were not so heavily subsidized by taxpayers, the market would likely correct the shortage fairly quickly with changes in diet (which arguably might have some health benefits as well).

http://www.publiclandsranching.org/htmlres/wr_guzzling_water...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/meat-makes-the-pla...

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#19

Post by cwal37 » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 10:13 PM UTC

A few water and the southwest related articles:

Water and Texas: http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/print-view/who-stole-the...

Arizona and wildfires (and water): http://www.azcentral.com/news/wildfires/yarnell/arizona-wild...

SoCal's current water management (shorter than the other articles): http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-famiglietti-south...

Re: Mapping the Spread of Drought Across the U.S

#20

Post by TravisLS » Thu, Jul 24, 2014, 10:17 PM UTC

What's the evidence for the link between west coast droughts in recent years and global warming? (I'm not trying to start a debate, just genuinely asking).