Reporter Caleigh Wells: 

Did you know 13 gallons is roughly what an average showerhead spits out in about seven minutes? I didn’t either. So when a PR person approached me with a story about a coalition proving that you can live comfortably on 13 gallons per person per day, I was skeptical. And this is coming from someone who takes the whole aridification-of-the-west thing seriously. I’m not just talking about turning off the water faucet while I brush my teeth. I take military showers. I save and cool the egg-boiling water to douse my plants. I grow hydroponic vegetables in my apartment that use a fraction of the water of conventionally grown plants (okay, I mostly do that last one because it’s way cool).

The family (mom - Amy, dad - Jake, toddler - Scout) participating in this pilot project — and that I’ve followed since last fall — is a pretty perfect example of whether this can work. They care enough about water to have a drought-tolerant yard, but Amy admits to loving luxurious showers. And yet, now that all the new water-saving appliances have been installed, they’re just as happy living on considerably less. 

Some climate solutions require us to cut down on the carbon we emit or the resources we use. Those stories are vital, but they aren’t all that sexy. Other solutions are innovative and let us mitigate our impact without sacrificing major life comforts. Isn’t it fun when there’s something that does both?

How to live on 13 gallons of water a day without even trying

The World Health Organization says each person needs 50 - 100 liters (13 - 26 gallons) of water per day to meet basic needs like drinking, showering, cleaning dishes, and washing clothes. The 50 Liter Home Coalition — made up of government organizations, community groups, and companies including Procter and Gamble, IKEA, and Kohler — has a bold claim: It’s possible to stay below that elusive 50-liter limit without sacrificing anything. To prove it, they have a pilot project in Los Angeles where county residents on average use three to four times that much.

Canoga Park residents Jake Olson and Amy Ball signed up. They’re under strict orders not to try harder to save water because the project is studying how little a family can use while behaving typically.

A team hauled away their toilets, faucets, shower heads, laundry machine, and dishwasher and replaced all that with a more miserly, drought-compatible set of appliances.

The experiment lasts into spring, but two months after installation day, Olson’s new appliances have reduced the family’s water usage by roughly 20%, and he says some changes — like the larger showerhead — are actually more enjoyable to use.

Death Valley is the hottest place on earth. How did a lake appear?

Death Valley is the hottest place on Earth and among the driest. Now visitors can kayak through parts of the park in the ephemeral Lake Manly, which emerged in August after Hurricane Hilary.

“What happened now is that there's a lake that is about six miles long, three miles wide, and about one foot deep that is covering the floor of Death Valley,” says National Parks Service Ranger Abigail Wines. “On days when it's not windy, it's particularly beautiful because it reflects Telescope Peak behind it, which is an 11,000-foot tall mountain, snow-capped right now, that will reflect down in the lake.”

Wines, who’s lived in the area for nearly two decades, paddled across the lake on a pack raft last weekend. She describes it as a bizarre but fun experience. She expects the lake to last only for a few more weeks. 

Get to Dodger Stadium by gondola? LA officials to vote

The home opener for the Dodgers is about a month away, which will bring heavy traffic. One plan to mitigate the congestion: a gondola from Union Station to Dodger Stadium, which would hold 30-40 people in each cabin. On Thursday, the LA Metro board will take a key vote on whether to proceed. Many residents near the stadium oppose the construction, which could cost half a billion dollars. 

“The argument proponents make is … wouldn't it be great if we could have some new and inventive form of transportation that would not only be cool — a gondola soaring above a freeway — but also be able to take cars off the road? … You save some pollution. Their argument is win-win,” explains Bill Shaikin, staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

However, among the considerations: “Will homeowners look up and see people looking down in their living room? What about stores and schools and other offices along the route?”

Shaikin points out that the vote on Thursday is only about proceeding with the project. It will still need approvals from the LA City Council, CalTrans, the Parks and Recreation Department, and LA Metro. 

CA kids learning to read may finally get hooked on phonics

Teresa Cole has taught kindergarten at Sunnydale Elementary School for a decade, and she’s using a curriculum rooted in an approach to literacy called the “science of reading.” The strategy relies heavily on systematic phonics instruction and is aligned with decades of neuroscience and psychological research about how kids learn to read. It teaches children to connect sounds with letters and string them into words, then builds in complexity toward vocabulary and comprehension.

Until recently, many school districts primarily used a different approach to reading called “balanced literacy.” Popularized in the 1990s, it’s based on the idea that kids learn to read through exposure to books and parsing through context clues. Critics say it promotes guesswork and doesn’t include enough phonics. 

While it works for some kids, research shows it doesn’t work for most of them, which Cole witnessed firsthand. She saw many of her young readers struggle to connect letters with sounds and blend those sounds into words.

Now the science of reading is taking California and much of the country by storm. A new bill in the state legislature aims to mandate the science of reading in all public school classrooms. If passed and signed into law, it would be fully implemented by 2028.

The best places to sip afternoon tea in LA

Cucumber sandwiches. Smoked salmon and dill. Scones with clotted cream and preserves. These are the basics of afternoon tea, sometimes known as high tea. If you're looking for an afternoon tea in Los Angeles, whether you want something elaborate or low-key, abundant options are in neighborhoods like Pasadena, Chinatown, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Montrose, Torrance, and more. Wherever you go, reservations are a must!