August 14-20, 2009 - As the "Voices of Monarch Beach"

Eye on DPThe Grass is GreenerDana Point family discovers artificial grass is good for water conservation and the pocket bookWBy Nathan WrightDana Point Timeshether it was a sign from aboveor just hungry raccoons, theWorthingtons finally decided thegrass had to go.“The raccoons would come up from ourcanyon at night and tear up our turf lookingfor insects and grubs,” said Roger Worthington.“We did everything short of posting anarmed guard. In the end nature wins, welose, so we said, you know, let’s get rid of thegrass.”And so the Worthington family rippedout the rolling, lush lawn in front of theirbluff-top home on Camino Capistrano andreplaced the grass with artificial turf, citrustrees and drought-resistant plants. The totallandscaping renovation reduced the family’swater intake by more than 50 percent fromlast June, an accomplishment water officialslaud as one piece of a larger conservationpuzzle that could help save South OrangeCounty from the state’s ongoing water woes.South Coast Water District General ManagerMike Dunbar calls grass the county’slargest crop, accounting for an astounding40 to 50 percent of the community’s overallwater use each month. “I think that the daysof watering grass and making our communitylook like Northern Ireland are over,” he said.“We’re certainly going to encourage peopleto use artificial grass and drought resistantplants.”A statewide drought has led to skyrocketingprices and mandatory rationing throughoutthe state. According to a district staffreport, water rates from the MetropolitanWater District—the agency that sells importedwater to agencies like South Coast—haveclimbed 30 percent in the past five years andare expected to increase by an additional 40percent over the next 15 months.To compensate, the district adopted anordinance in May restricting many wateruses including landscape irrigation. In June,the district approved water rate increasesthat will mean a $57 increase in monthlywater costs for the average family over thenext four years. The district is also investing$10 million in the next five years to ease itsdependence on imported water by developinglocal water resources, including a newgroundwater well and an ocean desalinationproject.But district officials say the water willonly stretch so far and have worked hard toeducate homeowners and business proprietorson conservation habits that will easethe needs of the community.Many residents like the Worthingtonshave taken the challenge to heart, replacingwater-dependent grass with artificial anddrought resistant landscaping. The transitionfrom lawn to artificial turf wasn’t, at first, apopular idea.“I grew up in Oregon playing on theAstro Turf at Oregon State University,” saidWorthington. “It was hard and crinkly andcrusty. I had a bias against it my whole life.”Then came the raccoons and Worthington’ssurrender. He spoke to his friend RonJohnson, a fellow resident of CapistranoBeach and the owner of Terra Firma LandscapeManagement Incorporated.Johnson wasn’t surprised that Worthingtonhad concerns with artificial grass. Just aAbove: Roger Worthington replaced his lawn withartificial turf and a citrus grove. Above, he poseswith one of his trees. Photo by Nathan WrightRight: The Worthingtons hired Capistrano Beachcontractors Terra Firma Landscape ManagementIncorporated to rip out their lawn and replace itwith the turf and a citrus orchard. On right is a shotof the project underway. Courtesy photofew years ago he shared them. “Five yearsago, I didn’t even want to install it becauseit just wasn’t up to par,” he said. “It’s comea long way since. When I show people thelook and feel of the new fibers it reallyopens their eyes.”Worthington said he was a quick sell. “Itlooks great,” he said. “It’s fun to play on.My kids play football and Frisbee on it.”The Worthingtons didn’t stop withthe artificial turf, designing walkways ofcrushed granite lined by citrus trees thatbear a variety of fruits including blood orangesand limes. “There’s nothing sweeterthan a freshly plucked tangerine from yourown front yard.”Worthington says the total job wasexpensive, but he expects to recoup thecosts in the coming years. His water andlandscaping bill have gone down. Whereonce he needed a team of eight landscapersto upkeep his yard a day a week foreight hours, he now only needs two for twohours.He’s already seen improvements in hisbills, but he isn’t satisfied with his family’soverall water conservation. “We’re notdone yet,” he said. “We can still do a betterjob inside our house. There’s still a lot wecan do.” DPON THE WEB: www.terrafirmalandscape.comRebate Programs on the HorizonArtificial turf is more expensive than grass, a fact that landscapers say keeps many homeownersfrom making a change. The South Coast Water District hopes to ease some of the costs in replacinggrass with drought friendly vegetation with an incentive program. Water District GM MikeDunbar hopes to bring the incentive program to the board of directors later this year for approval.District spokeswoman Linda Homscheid on Thursday sent along a breakdown of former andproposed future rebates for homeowners looking to make a change:For two years, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has offered a 30 cent persquare foot rebate on the purchase and installation of qualifying synthetic turf. Currently, all ofMetropolitan’s water-saving rebate programs are on hold and under review. We anticipate thattheir rebate programs will be reactivated, with some possible modifications, by the end of the year.On a separate track, as part of its Water Conservation Program, SCWD plans to implementtwo local incentive programs to encourage removal of traditional turf grass and replacement withsynthetic turf or California-Friendly vegetation.Turf Removal & Synthetic Grass Replacement Rebate Program would offer residential customersan estimated rebate of $2 per square foot to install qualifying synthetic turf—up to a certainsquare footage to be determined.Turf Removal & California-Friendly Vegetation Replacement Voucher Program would offerresidential customers an incentive that could amount to hundreds of dollars to plant qualifyingdrought-tolerant vegetation.Page 4 • Dana Point Times • August 14–20, 2009www.danapointtimes.com