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LA Quietly Making Mayor's Official Lawn More Drought-Friendly

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On October 15, Mayor Garcetti announced that he wanted dramatic reductions in the amount of water used in Los Angeles, promising he'd resort to mandatory restrictions if the city and its residents can't meet interim goals (the ultimate goal is to reduce water usage by 20 percent by January 2017). The very next day, a crew got to work ripping out some of the grass-heavy landscaping at Getty House, the mayor's official (and actual) residence in Windsor Square. There was no announcement about the upgrades and a rep for Garcetti would only tell us (via email) that "The city is replacing turf and upgrading the irrigation system at Getty House to reduce water use … Work on the backyard is planned for later." (The grassy backyard is often used for official events.)

The grass in front of the house's controversial fence seems to have been replaced a while ago, but a patch of lawn inside the gate (we peeped) appears to have been given a drought-tolerant makeover; probably most significantly, the mayor's house is now pretty much the only one in the neighborhood to have had the grass ripped out from its giant parkway, that area between the sidewalk and the street. (As the tipster who alerted us to the work wrote, "Unfortunately, almost none of the Hancock Park homes have begun taking out their large, green lawns. Hopefully, the Mayor will be an example now for others to follow?") We got a few shots today of the landscaping, plus bonus Halloween decorations.

All of California is in a historic drought that will probably drag on for a while longer.


· Los Angeles Mayor Requiring Major Cutbacks in Water Use [Curbed LA]
· Garcetti Leaving Silver Lake For Windsor Square Mayor Mansion [Curbed LA]