Drought campaign takes off
The Santa Clara Valley Water District is rolling out a new campaign to tackle California’s water shortage, called “Brown is the New Green.”The campaign aims to diminish the amount of water valley residents use to maintain their lawns. Water district officials at a July 25 press conference in Los Gatos said they hope the effort will help alleviate the effects of California’s ongoing severe drought.
Participants will have the opportunity to receive a free “Brown is the New Green” lawn sign and buckets to collect shower water to use to water their yards.
According to water district officials, a lawn could require more than 18,000 gallons of water each year. Officials also estimate that up to 60 percent more water is used during the summer than in other seasons.
The campaign, which will cost the district around $460,000, will run promotional ads on radio, on television, on billboards and online, as well as on banners at San Jose Giants and San Jose Earthquakes games.
To learn more about the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s efforts to address the drought, go to http://www.valleywater.org/drought2014/.
Parking pointers for game days
The Mountain View Police Department is offering information on how Mountain View residents should approach parking downtown during events at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.Downtown Mountain View is expected to become a magnet for event attendees to take light rail to the new stadium. The police department’s blog now includes information about the city’s year-long parking pilot program designed to help residents, businesses, stadium attendees and downtown visitors.
The post includes a list of neighborhoods expected to be affected by stadium events and a parking zone map. Event attendees who wish to park in Mountain View can park in four designated paid lots. City officials announced July 30 that the cost for parking in lots 1, 4, 8 and 9 on event days is $10.
Levi’s Stadium will hold its first sporting event, a soccer match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders, on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 7:30 p.m. The stadium will host San Francisco 49ers games starting Sunday, Aug. 17, at 1 p.m., in a game against the Denver Broncos.
More information, including a map, is at mountainviewpoliceblog.com. For more information about the parking pilot program, go to bit.ly/Uz1UsB.
—Cooper Aspegren
