Our General Plan states the key factors that are necessary to preserve our uniquely beautiful community. In the last Sentinel, Goal #5 was highlighted as part of a "Focus on Fire" issue. This Sentinel now continues our discussion of Goal #5 with respect to our water system. In addition, Goal #2, which preserves our natural environment in the Heights, is discussed in its relationship to Goal #5.
1. Recognize and preserve the unique rural character and individualistic lifestyle of La Habra Heights.
2. Preserve and enhance the scenic beauty and natural wildlife of the area.
3. Minimize alteration of the natural terrain.
4. Preserve, maintain, and encourage agricultural uses, especially avocado groves, citrus groves, and Christmas tree farms.
5. Reduce potential fire and recognized geologic hazards.
6. In harmony with the R-A-1 zoning, the City supports individual rights to keep horses, all animals used for 4-H projects, and other livestock as allowed by local ordinance; and encourage the private development and maintenance of a system of trails for horseback riding and hiking.
7. Assure that regional traffic demands will be accommodated in a manner consistent with the unique La Habra Heights environment.
8. Protect the Powder Canyon Significant Ecological Area.
Goals #2 and #5 almost seem to work against each other. On the one hand we protect our vegetation and the wildlife that lives here, but on the other hand abundant growth is a possible fire hazard. Some people have suggested that we just get rid of all "excess" vegetation. But then we could have drainage and erosion problems and we would surely lose what many of us came here to enjoy. La Habra Heights would resemble all the other barren hillside communities in the Los Angeles Basin that have scraped slopes and boxy-looking, exposed homes. Thus we live with a continual trade-off between what makes the Heights so special (plants, bushes, trees, and wildlife) and what threatens our homes and families (fire).
In addition to the fire danger, we live with the constant threat of drought. Southern California is a desert. When California suffers another long drought, as it recently experienced, it is entirely possible that water rationing will be required. Clearly we must plan for water conservation and the most efficient utilization of this increasingly scarce resource. One way to conserve water is to use "xeriscape" plantings, which are highly drought tolerant. But many of them can be highly flammable. Once again, we are faced with a trade-off. What we need is balance balance between the sometimes conflicting demands of our special life-style.
For example, there are numerous attractive groundcovers and new strains of grasses that require only a fraction of the water consumed by traditional turf grass. We must design landscaping that takes into consideration water shortages as well as flammability. Furthermore, drip irrigation, which puts water only where you want it, should be considered as a substitute for sprinkling, which covers large areas and encourages weed development.
We can all do our share to make sure that La Habra Heights controls its weed growth.
Each year the community of La Habra Heights consumes about 850,000,000 gallons of potable water, or about 390 gallons per person per day. Eight percent of this water is used by the golf course. Infrastructure (pipes, pump stations, etc.) is required to ensure that this volume of water will be available for our use. Our community is fortunate to have its own Water District that has provided us with an efficient and flexible water plan (see pages 4-5 for more detail). The District also has held seminars on conservation in landscaping and building, and water conservation information is available free of charge to any resident.
The charm and attraction of La Habra Heights is the atmosphere of privacy and seclusion provided by our beautiful vegetation and trees. But these key elements of our natural environment also hold the seeds of our own destruction: namely, high dependence on water and the constant potential for devastating fires.
To preserve our community's valuable assets, we must have strong support
for our General Plan Goals, for water conservation, and for the fire-fighting
capability of our Fire Department. We need to devote our efforts to maintaining
the balance among our inter-dependent resources.