Hayward hosted a free water efficient landscape class at the Main Library on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Cosponsored with the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, these classes provide residents with practical information and ideas for designing, installing and maintaining landscapes that are colorful, attractive, and water efficient.

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The Water Wise Edible Gardening class was attended by about thirty people and focused on reducing water needs for seasonable vegetable gardening. Along with a traditional class lecture, participants each received a “cool season” vegetable to plant in their own pots to take home. The instructor, Frank Niccoli, has written the curriculum for numerous classes at Foothill College.

Having the class held in the Main Library was also an excellent opportunity to promote the Seed Lending Library, which operates as a community seed exchange in which borrowers are able to “check out” a wide variety of vegetable and flower seeds to plant in their gardens.

Additional landscape classes are expected to be held in the spring. The dates and topics will be announced as soon as the information is available. Customers will be notified with an insert in their water bill, as well as through other means such as the City’s website and Nextdoor, a neighborhood social network.

Hayward water customers continue to do their part to conserve water, which has resulted in the City purchasing an average of 27% less water from June through October, as compared to the same time in 2013.

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This level of conservation continues to be over three times the mandated conservation level assigned to the City. The Governor’s April 1 Executive Order (B-29-15) directed the State Water Board to impose restrictions to achieve a statewide 25% reduction in potable urban water usage beginning in June, as compared to the amount used in 2013. Urban water suppliers across the state have been assigned a conservation standard between 8% and 36%, based on their residential gallons per capita. Given its very low residential per capita consumption, the City was placed in the lowest assigned tier, requiring an 8% reduction.

Beginning June 1, total monthly water production (or, in Hayward’s case, total monthly water purchased from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission) is compared to the same time in 2013. The Water Board will track water use on a cumulative basis from June 2015 through February 2016. To assess compliance, conservation savings will be added together from one month to the next and compared to the total amount of water used during the same months in 2013.

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Water production in September saw an apparent increase which resulted in just a 3% reduction as compared to the same month in 2013. City staff has thoroughly investigated the water usage increase and the anomaly appears to be related to a meter reading by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), as the City’s internal meter reading records do not reflect such an increase. For example, if the SFPUC meter was read a few days early in August and then read on schedule in September, the August usage would appear abnormally low and the September usage would appear high.

With the City’s water production in October being 27% less than during the same month in 2013, the total cumulative water reduction during the reporting period has been calculated at 27%, far exceeding the required 8% reduction. The continued exemplary conservation efforts of Hayward water customers are to be commended.

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The first of five Unite2Green Hayward workshops was held on Saturday, October 31 on the topic of water conservation and efficiency. The Unite2Green Leaders ran concurrent half hour workshops in Spanish and English. The combined workshops had approximately fifty adult attendees, forty of which attended the Spanish language workshop.

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Unite2Green is a pilot program that is training “Leaders” - three high school students, one Chabot College student, and one Tiburcio Vasquez Promotora (Health Promoter) - to educate their neighbors in the Jackson Triangle about the effect that climate change will have on their health, finances, and security. The City is partnering with ICLEI and the Hayward Promise Neighborhood to implement Unite2Green Hayward with funding from the San Francisco Foundation. The Unite2Green Leaders will run five workshops between October and April on water, energy, recycling, environmental health, and climate change.

The water efficiency workshop covered the drought, cost-effective ways to reduce water waste, and the City’s water conservation programs. The Leaders included photos of their own efforts to reduce water consumption. The majority of residents who attended the workshop rent their homes and the workshop was tailored to renters, who typically do not pay their own water bills or receive the City’s educational materials as bill inserts.

The workshops were held at the HUSD Parent Resources HUB in conjunction with the Hayward Promise Neighborhood Fall Reading Festival. In addition to books, Halloween treats, and lunch, attendees received free water-efficient showerheads.

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The City’s Utility Center at 24499 Soto Road just underwent a landscape renovation that will save water and provide inspiration to those looking to convert their water thirsty lawns to a drought tolerant garden.

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On Saturday, October 10, City staff from the Utilities and Environmental Services Department, Development Services Department, and Maintenance Service Department hosted a “lawn conversion” party” with the goal of both sheet mulching the facility’s lawn and planting water efficient landscaping, as well as providing an opportunity for residents to learn how to the same at their own homes.

The impetus for this event came from a forward-thinking City employee who works in the Utility Center, and questioned why the City had turf in the front of the building, particularly given the severe drought conditions and call for conversation by the Governor.

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Based on a creative design by Michelle Koo, the City’s Landscape Architect, and through a collaborative effort across departments, City staff constructed the landscape improvements, incorporating Bay-Friendly landscaping principles by planting native species, and using locally made organic compost. This project is an example of how the City couples sustainable policy decisions with sustainable actions. All are encouraged to visit the Utility Center to see just how beautiful a water efficient garden can be.

Hayward hosted the third of three free water efficient landscape classes at City Hall on Saturday, May 2. 

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Co-sponsored with the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, these bi-annual classes provide residents with practical information and ideas for designing, installing and maintaining landscapes that are colorful, attractive, and water efficient.

With over fifty participants in attendance, the final class, Lawn Replacement, was taught by Alane Weber, a professional landscaper with over forty years of experience and the Educational Director of San Mateo’s Master Composter Program. Ms. Weber provided ideas on how to create a water-efficient and low maintenance landscape using native and drought tolerant plants. Class attendees were educated about the benefits of native plants as an alternative to lawns, as well as tips on the Bay Area’s water cycle to better manage water efficiency. In addition, Ms. Weber drew the names of about a dozen participants, each of whom received a water-efficient native plant to take home.

The first two classes, Water Wise Edible Gardening and Habitat Gardening, were both hands-on workshops, where in additional to a traditional lecture, class attendees also received water-efficient plants, vegetable seeds and bulbs to plant in their own pots to take home.

The next landscape classes will be held in the fall. The dates and topics will be announced as soon as the information is available. Customers will be notified with an insert in their water bills, as well as through other means such as the City’s website and flyers.