My neighbor Jay is a smart guy. He reads the newspapers and has been following how the severity of the drought is affecting our state. He finally said, “It’s time. I’m getting rid of my lawn.” He didn’t tell me anything, but one day I walked out my front door and he had workers digging in his front yard. The lawn had been pulled up and the yard was filled with workers, wheelbarrows, and upturned dirt. It’s not a large front yard, but it had grass and he used regular watering to keep it green.

As I’ve mentioned, the drought in California has been long and severe. This has been the driest winter on record in the state. Our reservoirs are being depleted; farmers are drilling deeper and deeper into ancient wells with the purpose of irrigating their crops, wells that had taken millenniums to fill. And the water, once used, will take a lot of time to replace. What does this mean for agriculture and the economy of our state? That should be easy to figure out. This affects us all.

Jay has sacrificed his green lawn both in the front and rear yards. Good man. He’s replaced it with decomposed granite, DG.

The DG keeps the dust down while providing a permeable surface allowing rainwater to replenish any aquifer below. And, he’s not using gallons of water to keep his mini front yard “English parkland” vibrant and green. The DWP offers a rebate if you pull up your lawn. Details are here.

There are so many small sacrifices we can all make. Why not adapt to these new conditions together?