drought: A Level II Drought Alert is not conducive to showing properties - 11/22/09 09:47 AM
I really appreciate it when Sellers have been informed by their Realtors that I'd like to bring my buying Clients by to look at their lovely home.
Clean kitchen, no dishes in the sink, no dirty clothes anywhere, beds made, showers and sinks clean, etc.
Unfortunately, there is one thing that seems to be occurring more often due to our Level II Drought Alert. When it comes to using the toilet, or "water closet" as plumbers like to call it, the various water districts encourage us to let it mellow if it's yellow and flush it down if it's brown.
I would … (5 comments)

drought: Some people are simply more privileged than others - 05/24/09 08:51 AM
Every occasionally, an unbelievable story hits the newspaper, nightly news, and the radio talk shows. Sometimes they are national and international, like the bonuses at the big banks on Wall Street.
Other times they are more localized, such as is the case with one of our recent unbelievable stories here.
With many areas of Southern California being under various drought alerts, including portions of San Diego County under a mandatory water conservation Level 2 drought alert, the City of San Diego is targeting the top one thousand single-family residential water customers. Now I'm all for that, but I wonder why the … (4 comments)

drought: Otay Water District votes against Level 2 drought alert - 05/24/09 06:46 AM
Customers of the Otay Water District apparently have been so successful at voluntarily conserving water that the District voted recently to stay with a Level 1 drought alert instead of moving to a Level 2 drought alert.
A Level 1 drought alert depends on people voluntarily conserving water, like showering with a buddy instead of alone -- LOL.
A Level 2 drought alert mandates certain restrictions, like not washing the car by hand in the driveway, cutting down on landscape watering, etc.
The Otay Water District serves about 191,000 customers in Bonita, Chula Vista (eastern and Eastlake), El Cajon (southern), Jamul, … (4 comments)

drought: Balboa Park chooses waterwise landscaping - 05/05/09 01:49 PM
Balboa Park just north of downtown San Diego is one of the largest urban cultural city parks in the nation with over 1,200 acres. For comparison, Central Park in New York City has 843 acres. It also dates from 1835, making it one of the oldest urban parks.
The Trust for Public Land says that Balboa Park is the third most-visited urban park in the United States, behind Central Park and Chicago's Lincoln Park.
Much of Balboa Park is still rugged, undeveloped land and is good for hiking and exploring.
The more developed areas of the park, which includes the San … (5 comments)

drought: Wasteful water practices apparently end for CalTrans - 05/05/09 01:00 PM
I don't have very many pet peevers, but the one I do have is front and center in the newspapers and on the news, and that's water waste.
It really bugs me when I drive down the freeway at 1:00 in the afternoon only to see the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) watering the freeway dividers. I learned many years ago that watering is most effective early in the morning, like when it's still dark but just before sunrise, to help control excessive evaporation.
I used to think that it might be CalTrans testing or repairing the irrigation systems, but when … (4 comments)

drought: Level 2 drought alert for Mission Valley residents - 05/05/09 08:37 AM
The two pictures that Russel Ray used in his blog are from the Mission Greens condominium complex, one of the forty condominium complexes in Mission Valley where I specialize.
Many of the condominium complexes in Mission Valley have various types of water features -- fountains, lagoons, lakes, and artificial streams -- that have been shut down because of the drought situation.
As Russel so eloquently states in his blog, Sellers and their Realtors should make it known to Buyers and their Realtors what's going on and that these water features under normal conditions are quite beautiful and an amenity to the … (6 comments)