Well we are doing rather well here in Paradise conserving water. Much better than anyone had hoped for really.
Two weeks ago I wrote a KTK diary about how we won't be able to vote for a fracking ban in Butte County, CA after some shenanigans were carried out by our Clerk-Recorder and then the Butte County Supervisors.
Last week I wrote about what I found digging around the internet regarding how pro-fracking companies were getting away with this crap. What I found out just amazed me. Homeland Security, the FBI, private security companies that guard fracking companies and even Blackwater are all involved in thwarting the normal process and will of the people. Finding out that they pass the intelligence they gather to fracking companies and their PR firms floored me. They hack computers of anti-frackers and consider folks who try to control fracking operations where they live as radicals and almost domestic terrorists. This made me realize what happened in Butte County was just too easy for them and standard operating procedure.
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This week I wanted to share some good news. It involves water (as does fracking!). As you all know practically all of California now experiencing severe drought conditions. California is having what is termed "an exceptional drought" which is the worst designation. This means we're in deep doo doo.
Locally we were told by the State that we won't be allowed to collect any water this winter in Paradise Lake which gives us all our water (a bit over 9200 acre-feet when 100% full). The last thing I knew is Paradise had their lawyer go to Sacramento to see if there could be any wiggle room at all.
First off, we were all asked to use 20% less water than we did last year. Paradise Lake only got 86% full this past winter as we had sub par rain fall of only 32 inches (normal is 53). It turns out Paradise has used 35% less water overall compared to last year. Paradise Lake has 75% of the water it had at the end of winter. That works out to 0.75 times 0.86 which means currently Paradise Lake is 64.5% full. This is truly outstanding!
Smileycreek talked with Paradise Irrigation District last week and was told California will now likely allow us to be able to fill Paradise Lake up to 80% full this winter due to some wiggle room and the fact we've done so well in conserving water. That means we won't run out of water next year at least, which had been a real threat. Right now we'd only need to collect about 1426 acre feet of water (0.80 minus 0.645 = 0.155 times 9200 acre feet) to reach 80% capacity. Normally Paradise uses about 7000 acre feet of water per year. So far we've only used 1978 acre feet of water (0.86 minus 0.645 = 0.215 times 9200 acre feet). There are still 2 1/2 months to go before the rainy season begins, but Paradise has definitely done it's job.
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So what have we done personally to save water? Well, the first thing is I water only three garden areas once per week at most for one hour. This last time I went 10 days between watering due to the temperatures starting to come down and due to the angle of the sun becoming less direct on the plants.
Normally I water these gardens twice per week for 45 minutes. SO, this means I'm using 30% less water compared to normal on these three garden areas. I have also stopped watering other garden areas completely. This saves even more water obviously. I suspect we are using nearly 50% less water this year compared to last year.
There are casualties however. So many of the plants are dying or being allowed to die. I'm funny about gardens and plants. I get really attached to my plants, especially perennials. You spend years growing and shaping and loving your plants...then you have to let them die. Perhaps some of the roots will survive. I hope so.
One of the big problems is we had an unusually hot summer here with weeks and weeks of daily highs getting over 105 degrees. They measure the moisture still retained in the top several feet of the ground and tell us all of it is basically gone nearly everywhere in California. This means even our drought resistant perennials aren't getting water deep down in the earth any more.
Below the fold I'm going to show you what we've had to sacrifice in the face of exceptional drought conditions.
This ^^^^^ is what our roses look like. We have seven. I'm not watering them as roses need lots of water. This baby has the biggest yellow roses you ever saw. It's almost totally dead now and will be soon.
This ^^^^^ is St. John's Wort (a medicinal herb). It is extremely drought resistant and will kill anything it grows around by sucking all the water from the soil thereby killing all other plants. The fire department loves that we have large swaths of this because it really slows fires down. Normally I water this stuff once every two weeks for about an hour. This year I'm not watering it at all and large areas of it are dying. If this plant can't handle it, nothing else really can.
This ^^^^^ is our now almost 100% dead raspberry plant. I tried and tried to keep it alive. I brought it extra water in watering cans. It just couldn't deal with the heat and drought. Raspberries always grow on new growth. You can remove the old canes once you see where the new ones are coming from. This plant is gonners.
This ^^^^^ is a large plum tree that died this year. The green leaves you see in the sunshine are actually those of another tree. I'll have to cut this dead plum tree down.
This ^^^^^ is what's left of our lawn. We have a very small patch for the dogs to do their business. I've been letting this lawn get all the way to almost totally dead before I hand water it. I probably give it less than 1/4 inch of water, but it isn't going to pull through. All the normal grass is dead. All we have left is some crab grass that has taken advantage of that and dirt.
Two pics above ^^^^^ is a patch of dead comfrey. It's also a medicinal plant. It is extremely drought resistant as well. Normally it would be an area of big, vibrant leaves. The bottom picture shows one small bit that is holding on so far.
The picture two pics above ^^^^^ is what our houttuynia patch looks like. This is also a medicinal herb. That whole area is under a canopy of trees and in one of the moistest parts of our entire garden. It should be covered in green leaves with white flowers right now. The picture at the bottom shows what it would normally look like.
Two pics above ^^^^^ is a patch of stalk flowers. About half are dead and the other half is trying to cling onto life. The bottom pic shows you what it should look like right now.
This ^^^^^ is what's left of our mint patch. Mint is hardy as hell and very invasive. Well this mint is dead and that's all she wrote.
Two pics above ^^^^^ is what one of our ajuga patches looks like. It seems to have the capacity to hunker down and survive during this drought. Normally it would be much taller and full of blue flowers as you see in the bottom picture. Behind the ajuga you'll see Scottish Heather. Now that stuff is tough as nails and looks like it's doing great!
This ^^^^^ is normally a very large and tall rue plant. It grows to over 5 feet tall. It should be huge and green and giving us plenty of herb to use in cooking. Well, you can see it's barely hanging on but it is hardy and drought resistant so I hope the roots survive.
This ^^^^^ is a very large anise plant. It grows over 6 feet tall and should be very green right now. I doubt it will make it after all these years, but it has a large bulbous root, so perhaps it can pull through.
This ^^^^^ is a beautiful type of low-lying spreading chrysanthemum. It has velvety leaves and light blue flowers. It used to look like a green soft pillow covering this space. It is simply dying off more and more each day. The brown area was gorgeous for years and years. You can see what's left of a beautiful purple lily. Obviously it's dying too.
This ^^^^^ is a cherry tomato plant. It should be at it's peak now full of green leaves and lots of flowers and tomatoes. I have been giving it some water, but I don't have a well like sidepocket and so I can't water it as much as it needs. It's about dead.
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Well that's enough pictures. Most of you have seen pictures of our gardens off and on for several years now. You know how lush and mature our gardens are. It truly saddens me to have to let so much of it die. I guess, even if we get normal rain again, we won't replant the areas that are dying off. After putting 24 years of work and love into our gardens, it kinda feels like losing a loved one. And so it goes.
What do you want to kibitz about tonight?
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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