Following the governor’s state mandate to reduce water use across California, water agencies, municipalities, businesses and residents are required to reduce their water consumption as the fourth year of the drought enters the warm summer months.

Specific to cities, the Governor has mandated no watering of grass in medians; something that took effect in mid-May and was implemented in Santa Clarita along with a host of other water-saving practices.

Beginning in early 2016, the City of Santa Clarita will start a multi-year project to remove and replace all remaining grass areas in the medians with a combination of low water plants and mulch. Trees in the medians will continue to be watered using a bubbler controlled by smart controllers. The bubblers provide a small stream of water that is shot directly onto the trees that uses water more efficiently than sprinklers.

City parks have already been equipped with smart controllers, saving hundreds of millions of gallons of water annually because the controllers measure the atmospheric conditions, temperature and humidity to calculate exactly how much water is needed. They also shut off the watering during rainy periods.

City facilities, including Metrolink stations, libraries, City Hall and the Corporate yard are being assessed for water saving measures and will have toilets and urinal fixtures replaced to comply with the California Green code water conservation requirements to be water efficient.

Grass areas at city facilities will be replaced with water-efficient plant materials and mulch ground cover. Additionally, decorative water fountains at City facilities are being turned off including fountains at City Hall, the Sports Complex, Metrolink stations and the Old Town Newhall Library.

Following an audit of water use, the City will stop watering 14 acres of decorative grass that is not reserved for recreational use within 21 City park sites. These grass areas will ultimately be replaced with bark mulch.

“The City will absolutely comply with the State mandates for water reduction and at the same time, balance our community’s desire for attractive public areas and our investment in landscaping throughout the community,” commented Ken Striplin, City Manager.

The City of Santa Clarita currently maintains 46 miles of landscaped medians throughout the City and approximately five miles of those medians contains some amount of grass. With the Governor’s order, the City is no longer watering a total of 412,000 square feet of grass medians.

For more information about the City’s water-saving practices, visit santa-clarita.com/waterwise.