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In two weeks, new restrictions on outdoor watering will begin, but EcoTech Services Inc. is already seeing an increase in business.
Malcolm McLaren, the president of the Azusa water system company, said that the boost has come from homeowners taking a more active approach to how they manage their yards and gardens.

McLaren said that the next big thing to come will be homeowners changing their plant material to ones that can take the new one-day-a-week watering schedule.
“We haven’t seen a lot of changes yet,” McLaren said. “Some homeowners are being proactive and are doing turf removal projects to change their landscape and know this is coming.”

But once the summer months come and temperatures reach into the 90s for days in a row, cities are going to start seeing a massive die off of plants as residents are forced into the one-day watering routine.
“Cities that don’t supply their own water need to be ready to figure out how they are going to support their community when they start seeing lawns go brown and plants begin to die off,” he added.

For when it comes to irrigation, ignorance is not bliss.
“You cannot just rely on your gardener to be the sole person in charge of watering,” McLaren said. “You as the homeowner need to pay attention as well.”
As do business owners, particularly those with a lot of landscaping.

Sarah Wiltfong, director of advocacy and policy for the Los Angeles County Business Federation, or BizFed, said businesses such as restaurants and car washes should not be impacted by the new standards.
“It is my understanding that this is mostly affecting landscaping,” Wiltfong said.

“Anecdotally, I don’t think I’ve heard of any restrictions specific to carwashes or breweries,” added a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Water District, or MWD.
The MWD, which acts as a wholesaler that sells to water departments and companies, is asking its member water agencies to either go to a one-day a week watering schedule or go on a “water budget” – a setting of volumetric limits on the amount of water used. The new requirements start June 1.

A MWD spokesperson said that the agencies that don’t enforce the one-day-a-week watering restrictions or those that exceed their volumetric limits would face financial penalties from the district.
“It is not a per-person use,” the spokesperson said about the volumetric limits. “It is a total amount for the member agency, and they determine what they need to do to not purchase more water than that from Metropolitan.”

Overwatering issue

Businesses have a lot of questions about the MWD restrictions, particularly those in the landscaping industry who are hearing from their customers.
Desiree Heimann, vice president of marketing at Armstrong Garden Centers in Glendora, said that businesses see the new restrictions as an opportunity for locals to water more wisely.

“What we find is that most people overwater their gardens and using some really good watering practices will actually reduce their water consumption while being able to maintain a healthy and beautiful garden,” Heimann said.
Armstrong recommends that customers water between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. to make sure there is no evaporation, and to ensure that the water really penetrates the roots of the plants, Heimann added.
Gothic Landscape Inc. in Santa Clarita also is taking more than a few questions from its customers that include developers, facilities managers, homeowner association managers and university officials.

Nada Duna, chief operating officer at the landscape company, said that in Southern California there is a lot of concern over fire hazards as well as questions about how the watering restrictions will impact construction.
“Will there be requirements to do less installation of plants or limit the amount of construction? Duna asked. “We do not know the answers to those right now.”

But one thing that its clients can expect is a rise in the water rates, she said.
“People should expect water costs to go up, even if they use less water,” Duna noted.
Craig Kessler, director of public affairs for the Southern California Golf Association, a Studio City advocacy group for golf courses, said that that its members are not in a panic mode over the new regulations.

The good news is that the golf industry started a quarter of a century ago to reduce its water footprint, Kessler said.
“The bad news is we have to do it faster and better in order to remain a viable industry in California,” he added.
As a large landscape area – defined in state and local laws as parks, sports fields, cemeteries and golf courses – the courses can avail themselves of a program under the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power that allows them to keep 100 percent control over their irrigation practices, Kessler continued.

“In other words, they can irrigate three days in a row or different days or different times,” he said. “However, they must do so at a percentage savings from a budget that is assigned them by the Department of Water and Power based on a maximum allowable water allocation formula that is embedded in California code.”

The golf industry has invested in expensive irrigation equipment while at the same time has moved to planting one-season grasses and removed a lot of turf and has plans to remove more turf, Kessler continued.
“(It has) done anything and everything to reduce the water footprint,” he added.

Restriction details

The city’s DWP announced May 10 that it would go with the water budget option and would allow watering twice a week.
“In selecting the option offered by MWD to go on a water budget, we believe we can manage our system to meet the limitations in water delivery by MWD by going to two-days-a-week watering, while giving customers recognition for the significant conservation efforts they have already made for over a decade,” LADWP General Manager and Chief Engineer Martin Adams said in a statement.

The restrictions, unanimously adopted by the MWD’s board during a special meeting on April 26, apply to dozens of cities and communities in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties, according to a release from the district.
The new limits apply only to areas served by agencies that get most of their water from the State Water Project in Northern California. “With deliveries from the State Water Project severely reduced over the last three years because of drought, these communities face water shortages this year,” the district’s release said.

The Los Angeles City Council still needs to approve the DWP’s move into phase 3 of its water restrictions, which would start on June 1.
For all DWP customers with street addresses ending in odd numbers, watering will be limited to Mondays and Fridays. For all customers with addresses ending in even numbers, watering will be limited to Thursdays and Sundays, according to a release from the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

The changes come on top of existing watering restrictions, which stipulate that customers watering with sprinklers are limited to eight minutes per use; watering with sprinklers using water conserving nozzles is limited to 15 minutes; and watering between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. is prohibited, regardless of the watering day, the mayor’s release said.
BizFed understands the reasons behind the new restrictions yet supports the acceleration of other water projects, Wiltfong said.

The organization is highly supportive of the Cadiz Inc. water project in the planning stages for 15 years that would use water beneath the Mojave Desert; of the Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Plant being built by Poseidon Water in Carlsbad; and the MWD’s recycled water program, she said.

“We are trying to find new innovative ways to bring water into the area so that we are not so dependent on the State Water Project,” Wiltfong added. “So that when issues like this come up, we are not nearly as impacted, and our businesses are not nearly as impacted as they are going to be currently.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Five people in Berea were taken to the hospital on Wednesday after mixing swimming pool chemicals in their home, which caused a reaction.

Now, we want to show you what you should or should not do before you chemically prep your own pool this season.

“I’d say a general rule of thumb, make sure you add chemicals to water, not adding water to chemicals and not try to mix anything,” said Burt Christensen, the co-owner of Suntime Pools.

Chlorine is a popular pool chemical that can be dangerous if not handled properly.

“Chlorine can be very flammable. It’s a product every pool is using right now,” Christensen said.

Christensen said always prepare swimming pool chemicals outside. If anything goes wrong, at least you’re out in the open.

“pH reducers, a lot of times muriatic acids, something that’s commonly used, these can be really effective products,” Christensen said. “They can also be very aggressive and potentially harmful products as well.”

He said make sure you read and understand the directions.

“When in doubt, contacting a pool professional that’s familiar with those chemicals and ask for advice,” Christensen said.

Christensen said some pool chemicals can be mixed, but to be careful, and when it doubt, ask a professional.

Copyright 2022 WKYT. All rights reserved.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a “prolonged conflict” in Ukraine, and could resort to drastic measures if the fighting doesn’t go his way, according to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Haines said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has sent a shock through the geopolitical order, “with implications for the future that we are only beginning to understand, but are sure to be consequential.”

Though Putin has focused his forces on Donbas after failing in the north, the U.S. does not believe he will be content with the eastern part of the country, Haines said.

“The next month or two of fighting will be significant as the Russians attempt to reinvigorate their efforts. But even if they are successful, we are not confident that the fight in the Donbas will effectively end the war,” she said. “We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas.”

But for now Putin’s goal is to take control of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in Donbas and encircle Ukrainian forces from the north and south “in order to crush the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces who are fighting to hold the line in the East,” Haines said.

Putin would also like to “consolidate control of the land bridge Russia has established from Crimea to the Donbas, occupy Kherson, and control the water source for Crimea,” she said.

The U.S. also sees signs his military wants to extend that land bridge to Transnistria, in Moldova, according to Haines.

Haines said Russia might be capable of achieving “most” of those goals in the coming months, but would need to mobilize more troops to achieve the last:

“We believe that they will not be able to extend control over a land bridge that stretches to Transnistria and includes Odessa without launching some form of mobilization. And it is increasingly unlikely that they will be able to establish control over both oblasts and the buffer zone they desire in the coming weeks,” Haines said.

But Putin is “probably counting on U.S. and EU resolve to weaken as food shortages, inflation, energy prices get worse,” she added.

Economic forces are at work in Russia as well, with sanctions from the West having a “pretty significant” impact on Russia, according to Haines.

“Among the indicators that one might look at are, for example, the fact that … we predict approximately 20% inflation in Russia, that we expect that their GDP will fall about 10%, possibly even more, over the course of the year,” she said.

The fighting itself has also worn on Russia’s capabilities.

“Our view is that the ground combat forces have been degraded considerably. It’s going to take them years … to rebuild that,” she said.

But degraded conventual forces could drive Putin to other means of exerting force.

“That may end up meaning that they have greater reliance in effect on asymmetric tools during this period,” Haines said. “So they may rely more on things like cyber, nuclear, precision, etc. And that’s obviously a shift in the way in which they are exercising their efforts for influence.”

The discrepancy between Putin’s high aspirations and his degraded conventional capability could lead to “a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory,” and “a period of more ad-hoc decision making in Russia” in the next few months, Haines said.

This could also manifest itself domestically.

“The current trend increases the likelihood that President Putin will turn to more drastic means, including imposing martial law, reorienting industrial production, or potentially escalatory military actions to free up the resources needed to achieve his objectives as the conflict drags on, or if he perceives Russia is losing in Ukraine,” she said.

What could happen next?

“The most likely flashpoints for escalation in the coming weeks are around increasing Russian attempts to interdict Western security assistance, retaliation for Western economic sanctions or threats to the regime at home. We believe that Moscow continues to use nuclear rhetoric to deter the United States and the West from increasing lethal aid to Ukraine and to respond to public comments of the U.S. and NATO allies that suggest expanded Western goals in the conflict,” she said.

The next step for Putin could be to launch major nuclear drills to command respect from the U.S.

“If Putin perceives that the United States is ignoring his threats, he may try to signal to Washington the heightened danger of its support to Ukraine by authorizing another large nuclear exercise involving a major dispersal of mobile intercontinental missiles, heavy bombers, strategic submarines,” Haines said.

But so far U.S. officials have said they do not believe Russia is preparing to actually use nuclear weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere.

“We otherwise continue to believe that President Putin would probably only authorize the use of nuclear weapons if he perceived an existential threat to the Russian state or regime,” Haines said.

Return ‘Em Right is launching its program to offshore anglers throughout the Gulf of Mexico today. By participating in a short online review of best practices anglers can receive free release gear valued at $100 to help reef fish survive release.

Each year, more than 10 million federally-managed reef fish are released, and at least one million of those will die after being released. A main reason is due to barotrauma, a pressure-related injury fish experience when reeled up from depth. Anglers may observe barotrauma when they release a fish, only to see it float away on the surface. For every one percent of landed and released fish anglers save through learning and using best release practices, over 100,000 reef fish could survive to grow, possibly spawn, and be caught again.

“I have enjoyed teaching my daughter to fish and know one way to keep the fisheries healthy for her generation is to release them properly. I hope Gulf anglers take advantage of Return ‘Em Right – free gear and training to benefit the fishery is a win-win,” said JD Dugas, recreational angler from Louisiana.  

Return ‘Em Right promotes best release practices, with an emphasis on proper use of descending devices, which research shows can improve long-term survival of reef fish by up to three times. Descending devices are weighted devices that help fish overcome buoyancy and injury by releasing them at depth. These devices come in a variety of forms including weighted inverted hooks, lip clamp devices, and weighted crates and boxes. 

“I used descending devices for the first time recently and I’ve seen them work firsthand. Not a single fish floated back up the entire day offshore fishing,” said Alexandra Spring, three-time IGFA World Record Holder.

Gulf of Mexico reef fish anglers 18 years and older are now eligible to visit the Return ‘Em Right website, review best release practices, and receive a package of release gear to use out on the water. The educational review is available to all individuals who are interested in learning best practices when encountering barotrauma, regardless of your age, location, or role in the fishery. 

“Return ‘Em Right welcomes all anglers to participate in the program and we are excited to be a resource to a community committed to preserving the future of the sport,” said Nick Haddad, Fisheries Communications Manager, Return ‘Em Right.

About Return ‘Em Right

Return ‘Em Right is a program that aims to reduce catch and release mortality from fish suffering from barotrauma in the Gulf of Mexico. The program is led by Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA and a coalition of anglers, industry groups, state agencies, universities, government and non-government organizations committed to maintaining healthy fish stocks and fishing access in the Gulf of Mexico. The project was selected by the Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustee’s as part of a 2019 Restoration Plan. 

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. 

broke the news that the Supreme Court had drafted a majority opinion that would strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, likely leading to the outlawing of most abortion services in dozens of conservative states.

In a brief statement on Tuesday, Biden said that the White House Gender Policy Council and the White House Counsel’s Office were working together to “prepare options for an Administration response to the continued attack on abortion and reproductive rights, under a variety of possible outcomes in the cases pending before the Supreme Court.”

So… what is the Gender Policy Council? The White House revived the office in 2021 with the goal of our own LAURA BARRÓN-LÓPEZ spoke with Klein, who said that the White House spent the last year bracing and planning for the decision, including holding listening sessions led by Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, with health care providers, patients and advocates across Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky. Klein’s also held meetings in recent weeks with state legislators in other states where laws have similarly been passed restricting access to abortions.

“This court is poised to overturn 50 years of precedent,” Klein told Laura. “At the moment, what we are doing is working very hard to explore all options, every option to protect reproductive health care, including access to abortion, and we’ll continue to do that.”

A Biden adviser said the GPC is the hub within the White House on the issue, and will decide what options are available to protect abortion rights. “But the short of it is there’s no there’s no replacement, there’s nothing that can replace the protection of Roe versus Wade, if that goes away.”

One Biden adviser said that while the council is examining policy options, the Department of Justice will likely look at different state anti-abortion laws where the administration could litigate.

The president’s team is also thinking about the issue on a political level. With little hope that this Congress will eliminate the filibuster and pass a law enshrining the right to abortion, the Biden team is hoping that the issue can galvanize voters to elect pro-choice lawmakers.

“The more extreme Republicans and those who oppose this right … they put themselves in a difficult position because the strong majority of Americans support this right,” Klein told POLITICO last week. “Politically it is more motivating for Democrats and pro choice Americans than it is for that small minority of Republicans.”

TINA TCHEN, who ran the White House council on women and girls during the Obama administration and has worked with Klein, said that the council is coordinating different parts of the federal government to develop possible responses.

“This is a whole new era, and it’s why you want a group like a Gender Policy Council… to sit at the center, at White House reporting to the president that can command all of these different parts of the federal government to bring those resources to bear,” said Tchen, who left her perch at the group Time’s Up during the fallout over the scandal involving former New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO. “There’s a little bit of a head start now to June [when a final Court decision is expected] to be looking at what options there may be.”

(West Wing Playbook will have more in tomorrow’s newsletter on what actions abortion rights advocates want the administration to take).

With help from Laura Barrón-López

TEXT US — ARE YOU SHILPA PHADKE, deputy director of the Gender Policy Council. We want to hear from you (we’ll keep you anonymous). 

Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow.  Email us at [email protected]

A little bit of geographical trivia today — the capital of Liberia was named after which U.S. president?

(Answer at the bottom.)

THE PANDEMIC ISN’T OVER, PART 173:  ABC News’s JONATHAN KARL tested positive for Covid-19, people told Max, days after he attended the White House Correspondents’ dinner. During the dinner, Karl sat next to KIM KARDASHIAN, received an award, and interacted with the president. Tuesday seemed like the day that informal contact tracing texts started to go out: West Wing Playbook received several messages from people who attended the parties or the dinner who have since tested positive for Covid.

We reached out to Kardashian’s people for comment but have not heard back.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: moved to extend worker permits Tuesday, allowing hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers to be able to continue to use their existing work permits for nearly 18 months after they expire, our NICK NIEDZWIADEK reports. The order goes into effect Wednesday and reflects the latest attempt to address an immigration backlog of roughly 1.5 million work-permit applications.

BIG LABOR MEET-UP: CHRISTIAN SMALLS, the leading labor organizer behind the unionization efforts at Amazon’s Staten Island fulfillment centers,