Bill McDonnell, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Manager of Water Efficiency, joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the drought California is contending with amid a heatwave, turf removal rebates for residents, and the region's water supply.
- All right. The drought in the Western United States is now at crisis levels with some reservoirs and lakes at 25% of capacity. You see these pictures. They are staggering. These states being forced to cut their reliance on the Colorado River. And in some cases, local officials even encouraging residents to rip out their lawns to preserve water.
Bill McDonnell is the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California manager of water efficiency. Good to see you, sir. What do you want residents to do with their lawns and, how do you plan to compensate them?
BILL MCDONNELL: So what we're looking for is folks to-- if they're not using their lawn-- the term we're using is non-functional turf. If you're not using the front, back, side, or even a business-- businesses, schools, colleges, universities, cities-- take out that lawn that you're not doing anything with that's just a green square or rectangle and replace it with something that's water-efficient and biodiverse.
- Bill, talk about the incentives that you're offering right now to get people to do this. And how interested are the residents in your district trying to help out in this situation that is so dire right now?
BILL MCDONNELL: Well, we offer a $2 per-square-foot rebate. And we cover all of Southern California, so 19 million people. And there's a lot of cities. We have a lot of cities, Los Angeles and others, that co-fund. So depending on where you live, you could get anywhere from $2 to $4 or $5 a square foot. It depends on where you live.
- So what are some examples of some of these drought-resistant plants that you recommend?
BILL MCDONNELL: Well, we don't pick a particular plant or palette. What we're looking for is folks to replace their grass with native landscapes, plants that can live in this kind of Mediterranean climate that we have here in Southern California. We have a Mediterranean climate. We have limited rainfall. We have high temperatures.
So turf is really not a great-- there you go. Beautiful picture. That kind of landscaping. We use the term "California-friendly landscaping." So it would depend on where you live. The landscaping in Santa Monica near the coast would be one type of landscaping versus a little bit more inland where it's hotter. So it's climate-appropriate plants.
- But you do not want artificial turf, which I think we saw some video of earlier. And how many people have responded to this offer?
BILL MCDONNELL: We have quite a few people. Yes, we don't rebate on artificial turf or synthetic turf. And customers can put that in. We don't incentivize it because it is a petroleum place. It's basically plastic. There's a limited life. You have to take it out. That plastic turf will end up in a landfill. There's no biodiversity. So that's one of the reasons why we're not recommending it. We're recommending more of a broader palette of drought-tolerant plants.
- Bill, how much water do you estimate is being saved because residents are transitioning to these alternative types of lawns?
BILL MCDONNELL: Well, here in Southern California, you can use-- upwards of 70% of your water bill or water usage is used outside. So if you change from turf, which, let's say, is in the front and backyard of your home-- if you change from turf to a California-friendly landscape, you can reduce that water usage, which is 70%, more than half, so a big water savings. Because out here in California, in Southern California, outdoor water use is the majority of our water use.
- And how hard is it, do you think, to monitor whether or not people are in compliance, really doing their part to try and reduce their water usage?
BILL MCDONNELL: Yeah, that's kind of tough because we do serve such a huge community-- like I said, 19 million people. We're not looking at it home by home. We're looking at a broader picture for the whole service area. To date, we've taken out over 200 million square feet of turf that we have paid for.
And we've done some studies, and what we found is what we call a multiplier effect. So if you re-landscape your front yard with California-friendly plants, we're finding that we're getting at least another yard somewhere in your neighborhood that sees that, likes it, and also changes their landscape.
So landscaping is very visual. People will take their dogs, their kids for a walk. They see the neighborhood changing, and then they change too. So the more yards we do, the more multiplier effect until, eventually, this type of landscaping becomes the norm.
- Also save a lot of time and money on lawn mowing. Bill, how do you put in perspective just how dire this water shortage is?
BILL MCDONNELL: Well, it's the worst I've seen-- I've been here 25 years-- because we're an importer of water, so we get water from the state water project, which is up in Northern California and the Colorado River, and both of them have been very much impacted. And then there's also local water within our service area, and local water has been affected by high heat and lack of rain. So it's kind of a combination of everything.
And so we have water. We just want people to use it prudently. And putting it on a square in your front yard or a square in front of your business just so that it looks green is not a good use of water.
- Bill McDonald, thanks so much for taking the time. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California manager of water efficiency. Thanks so much for joining us.
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