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Fresno City Council Considers Watering Exemption For Backyard Gardens

Ezra David Romero
/
Valley Public Radio
Veggies from an urban garden

The Fresno City Council could carve out an exemption from water conservation rules for backyard fruit and vegetable gardens. The goal is to encourage more urban farming.

The exemption, proposed by Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, would allow for daily drip irrigation of backyard gardens.

Soria says current watering rules are too restrictive, and could be deterring people from growing their own food especially in poor areas.

“We just want to make sure that we are not discouraging anyone in our community from growing their own fruits and vegetables either in their own back yard or in a community garden,” Soria said.

Soria says some homeowners have already received water use warnings as a result of their backyard gardens.om Matott, an urban food expert with Fresno Metro Ministries, says gardens use much less water than the same amount of lawn and actually results in something useful.

“It is a better use of the water. It is high value than just lawns. It feeds households and communities when we can do that. And it is a responsible way to engage using water,” Matott said.

Other cities in the valley, such as Visalia, already have water conservation exemptions for fruit and vegetable gardens.

The city council meets Thursday.

Jeffrey Hess is a reporter and Morning Edition news host for Valley Public Radio. Jeffrey was born and raised in a small town in rural southeast Ohio. After graduating from Otterbein University in Columbus, Ohio with a communications degree, Jeffrey embarked on a radio career. After brief stops at stations in Ohio and Texas, and not so brief stops in Florida and Mississippi, Jeffrey and his new wife Shivon are happy to be part Valley Public Radio.