SDG&E Landscaping to Slash Water Use 40%

San Diego Gas & Electric expects its new water-wise landscaping project at Century Park, its Kearny Mesa headquarters, to save the utility more than 4 million gallons of water a year, a 40 percent campus reduction.

Previously, SDG&E’s landscaping at Century Park was 71 percent turf that required irrigation and regular maintenance. The existing landscape was replaced with drought-tolerant vegetation and xeriscape — fully drought-tolerant landscaping.

SDG&E has taken other measures to reduce its water usage overall. Electric substations have already reduced water use by 76 percent, which has saved more than 200 million gallons of irrigation water since 2004. Other employee-occupied facilities have also been retrofitted and landscaping converted saving 28 million gallons of water since 2009.

As the California drought continues, other businesses in the state are reducing their water use through xeriscaping.

Bank of America’s drought-tolerant landscaping is expected to save 2 million additional gallons of water over original estimates, the company announced in December.

The previous August, Bank of America announced water conservation efforts to transition traditional landscaping at six of its banking centers in Southern California to xeriscaping. The pilot builds on existing water management efforts currently in place at more than 100 other Bank of America properties across the Southland that have partial xeriscaping.