Is your yard a dated relic of California's water guzzling past, or, an exemplar of the drought-tolerant future that the state's trying to nudge us all towards? Image courtesy of Muhammad Mahdi Karim, www.micro2macro.net.GNU Free Documentation License 1.2

California: This is your new water budget.

In an effort to make plants guzzle less, the state has imposed new restrictions on how much water new and rehabilitated landscapes can use.

For instance, as of January 1^st, whenever a developer in California plans a property – commercial or residential – that has at least 2500 square feet of yard and garden, he'll have to tailor the plantings to conform to the amount of water the state deems sufficient for that site. That's where the water budget comes in. More details on the ins and outs of what the state is now requiring can be found here. As I reported in my QUEST radio piece, some California cities are imposing tighter restrictions in hopes of saving more water. Check your city's water efficient landscape ordinance for details.

That being said, homeowners needn't worry that a crew of strapping regulators will be ripping up their front lawns. Existing landscapes won't be impacted by the new rules. But homeowners might wonder how their own landscaping would stack up if their properties were being built today. In other words, is your yard a dated relic of California's water guzzling past, or, an exemplar of the drought-tolerant future that the state's trying to nudge us all towards?

Here's how to figure it out:

Click on this link to get your very own Water Budget Workbook. Choose the tab on the bottom of the page that says "MAWA" — that stands for Maximum Applied Water Allowance.

Choose your city from the list provided. If your city isn't on the list, choose another nearby city that is, but be sure it's in the same "EvapoTranspiration Zone" where you live.

Evapo what?

"Evapotranspiration" is the loss of water to the atmosphere, by evaporation from the soil and plant surfaces, as well as by "transpiration" from plant tissues. A more detailed explanation of what that all means can be found here.

The state's Department of Water Resources and UC Davis developed this beguiling map that divides the state into 18 different zones based on long-term monthly average evapotranspiration. Not everyone in the Bay Area lives in the same zone with local zones ranging from Coastal Plains Heavy Fog Belt to Northern Inland Valleys. For a close-up view of the map where you can choose your zone, click here.

Now, that you've selected your city — or at least one in the same zone — input your square feet of landscaping, and you'll get your water budget in thousands of gallons. But what does that mean in terms of what you're growing?

That's where the Estimated Total Water Use calculation comes in. Click on the ETWU tab on the bottom of the page. Now, you can determine how much water your landscaping likely drinks, based on how thirsty your plants are. You can even look up which species of flowers, trees and shrubs are water hogs and which are sippers by clicking here to consult the "Water Use Classification of Landscape Species: A Guide to the Water Needs of Landscape Plants." It classifies species according to "high," "medium" or "low" water use.

To meet state regulations, the Estimated Total Water Use of a site must not exceed that site's Maximum Applied Water Allowance. Play around with these spreadsheets, and you'll get an idea of how your own yard compares to the water-sipping future that state regulators envision.

Happy water budgeting!

Listen to the Wither The Lawn radio report online.

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By using water as a commodity, we are using up the fresh water the planet provides faster than it can replenish it.

Reporting this piece introduced me to a subculture I hadn't paid much attention to before: Water nerds.

It turns out I sit right next to a couple of them, right here at KQED. One is named Dan Brekke. He's an editor here. Dan spouts off reservoir levels the way other people recite batting averages.

Monthly snowpack surveys are awaited with baited breath. Curious about the state's current hydrological conditions? Dan can probably tell you.

Speaking of snowpack surveys, don't miss Craig Miller's Climate Watch video about how the surveys are conducted and what they mean. (See, I told you this place was crawling with water nerds.)

Anyway, it seemed unfair that I, an amateur water nerd, should be allowed to actually meet weather celebrities like Jan Null, a meteorologist for the Golden Gate Weather Service (and a favorite source of KQED reporters). My trip out to Folsom Dam made me the envy of the newsroom. But Dan didn't hold it against me. In fact, he agreed to share his interactive map with me, which he has promised to update daily with reservoir levels. (For a larger view, click here.)

He must be looking for converts.

View KQED: California Reservoir Watch in a larger map

Listen to Is The Drought Over? radio report online.

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In our radio story, we feature the stylishly high tech Vineyard 29 and the Robert Mondavi Winery, but scores of other wineries are using a similar toolbox of technology to help them monitor the soil's water content to grow better grapes. The technology ends up conserving water, too. Remote sensing, ground penetrating radar and satellite technology have helped Mondavi cut back on water use by 30% in recent years.

Winemakers are using some of the same technology that NASA uses to study Mars and engineers use to build hi-rises and freeways. A typical toolbox includes multi-spectral imaging, weather stations, neutron moisture probes, and pressure bombs and there is a plethora of newer technologies in the pipeline. But enough with all the high tech gizmos. How does wine from high tech vines taste? The answer might be found in the success of the winery. Mondavi has won numerous awards over the years and there is a two-year waiting list just to purchase Vineyard 29 wines.

Check out our slide show to see some of these technologies or listen to our radio report on high tech in the vineyards.

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