Water Conservation
California Using Data To Maximize Water Conservation Efforts
Even as the Golden State has a wetter fall, California's water leaders have launched a new tool to leverage information technology and available information to support decisions around local water reliability.
How to Plan for an Uncertain Climate Future
Creating adaptive, sustainable communities may require rethinking some planning basics.
Grass Grift
L. A. company Turf Terminators promised low impact lawns in exchange for city rebates, but delivered shoddy work and hot rocks.
What Droughts Say About Planners and Water Officials
When water policy and land use planning operate in separate spheres, it's more difficult to design for efficient resource use. Better communication is needed in the drought-stricken southwest.
Court Ruling Makes Tiered Water Pricing Difficult for California Drought Efforts
Pricing through tiered levels (i.e., charging more for customers using higher volumes of water), will be difficult, if not impossible, thanks to the ruling of a California appeals court on April 20.
U.S. Water Use Hits 45-Year Low
Recent data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that the country is using less water even as its population grows.
New Los Angeles Mayoral Directive on Water Conservation
In an effort to conserve water and prevent the expensive water importation in the future, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently published a new directive for city-wide water conservation.
'4Liters Challenge' Addresses Water Poverty and Conservation
As opposed to the wasteful "Ice Bucket Challenge," 4Liters challenges individuals to experience water poverty by limiting themselves to four liters of water for 24 hours, about 1 percent of the amount an average American uses.
'Droughtshaming' and the Death of Fun
Laura Bliss provides a summary of the controversy surrounding plans to bring the "Slide the City" event to Temple Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles.
Drought Killing Your Lawn? Spray Paint It
Suburbanites facing fines from municipalities or trying to impress their neighbors have an alternative to keep their lawns shining while still saving water—spray paint.
Rural-Urban Partnerships May Be the Key to Water Conservation
Most of us who live in major metropolitan areas know that urban water supplies are dwindling. The question is: what can we do about it?
Can a 600-Mile Transfusion Revive the Colorado River?
The Colorado River is struggling to provide enough water for 25 million people, which could lead to water shortages and water wars in the areas that rely on its bounty. Officials are looking to find a long-term solution, reports Felicity Barringer.
San Antonio Spurs Pioneering Water Conservation Effort
With a multipronged strategy, San Antonio has managed to achieve the nearly impossible - keeping water use flat while accommodating substantial growth - rightfully earning it the title "Water's Most Resourceful City," reports Mose Buchele.
O.C. Homeowners Sued for Removing Lawn
In Orange, California, city codes require that front yards be 40% landscaping. After considerately adding drought-resistant plants and bark to save water, the city sued an Orange couple.
To Save Water, Developers Ditch Lawns
Developers of Sterling Ranch, a proposed master-planned community in Colorado, want its future residents to curb their water use. One way they're ensuring this is by nixing traditional, lush lawns from their plans.
Cities Facing Turf Questions
Water saver or environmental hazard? Questions are compounding about artificial turf as more homeowners ditch their grass for fake lawns. Contradicting city policies muddy the issue in the arid Southwest.
Turf Troubles
When mandatory water conservation rules took effect in Glendale, California, homeowner David Wood installed artificial turf to maintain the green front yard emblematic of the American Dream. But his new fake lawn is against the law.
Learning Water Conservation on the Golf Course
As water resources dwindle, golf course managers are becoming go-to experts on conservation.
Undergound Eyes Watch Water Use at Golf Courses
Underground water sensors that monitor and display moisture and soil conditions on computers are saving millions of gallons of water at golf courses.
Peak Water: Tapping Out the Ogallala Aquifer
This piece from Scientific American looks at the jurisdictional challenge of conserving water in the cross-state Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest sources of freshwater and the backbone of the nation's farm economy.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
