CSULB addresses state-wide drought

Come summertime, Facilities Management will convert former grass lawns into drought resistant landscapes.

Facilities Management selected six specific sites for grass removal because they are on perimeter areas of campus and are not “high student use areas,” Brian McKinnon, the Facilities Management manager for grounds and landscaping, said.

“[The lawns] are mostly drive-by, visual, and they’re spaces we have to maintain and mow weekly, water three times per week,” McKinnon said. “And they seem to be the most forefront ones to take off our frequent irrigation cycles and come up with a plant palate that will be more sustainable.”

McKinnon said that the drought resistant landscape will cost more money in labor, but that it will be more cost effective in terms of water consumption and fossil fuels used to power lawn mowers.

“With any sustainable practice, there are tradeoffs,” MicKinnon said. “The important thing is it’s more important to move towards water consecration and sustainable plant use than continuing down the same path that we’ve done before.”

Paul Wingco, the Energy and Sustainability Manager of Facilities Management said that approximately $300,000 a year is spent on watering landscaping. He said that 50 to 60 percent of CSULB’s annual water consumption budget is used on landscaping.

“Drought resistant landscaping is sustainable, uses less water, less fertilizer, can be labor saving, [with] reduced fuel usage and emissions from lawn mowing equipment,” Wingco said.

Facilities management intends to implement a mixture of California native flowers, shrubs and palm trees in the new landscaping, according to the landscape turf replacement designs.

“It’s not only water conservation,” McKinnon said. “It is also pleasing to the eye.”

McKinnon said that in drought resistant landscaping, it is important to utilize both plant and non-plant material, such as gravel or woodchips. He also said it is necessary to condense the actual plant area so that water can be concentrated.

“We are minimizing the areas we have to put water down,” McKinnon said.

The new landscaping would save 3.5 million gallons of water a year and $15,000 in water-related maintenance. This would be about a 5 percent decrease in water-related expenditures.

Wingo said that it is CSULB’s goal to reduce water consumption 20 percent in five years.

In addition to re-landscaping the six grass lawns, Facilities management is also re-landscaping the walkway near the Horn Center. McKinnon said that students can expect similar drought resistant landscaping before commencement. He said that landscaping for the six lawns will not begin until after commencement though because the high amount of construction would cause traffic issues during commencement and could be disruptive during finals.

Facilities Management is upping its frequencies in water audits. McKinnon said they are upping quarterly checks to weekly.

During daytime, you might see irrigation running,” McKinnon said. “Its usually because we’re inspecting the system.”

Water audits allow Facilities Management to catch and breaks or leaks in the systems right away so that excessive water is not wasted.

Facilities Management is also looking into lowering irrigation run times. He said that plants will still receive the water they need, but more efficiently.