The dying tree

Scores of trees line the middle of 21st Avenue in Colonial Heights, in a wide median strip where a streetcar line once ran. These trees offer shade in a part of Sacramento where they are sometimes scarce and heat deserts are common.

They might be in trouble.

California’s been in a well-documented drought for five years. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown called for various restrictions to reduce water usage by 25 percent. Among the restrictions was an end to “irrigation with potable water of ornamental turf on public street medians.”

In September, Colonial Heights resident Barbara Steinberg said she’s noticed dying trees in the 21st Avenue median as well as on nearby 65th Street and a frontage road along Highway 50. Steinberg said the city isn’t deep-watering the trees, only providing surface sprinkler water. Weeks after the city council’s August 4 adoption of an updated tree ordinance that helps protect trees from developers by requiring removal notices on the city’s Department of Urban Forestry website, Steinberg wanted the city to take action.

“It’s about quality of life and creating a healthy environment in the city, and I think people need to be more concerned about that,” Steinberg said.

In a September 2 email to Councilman Eric Guerra and other city employees, Steinberg included 11 photos of browning and dried tree patches.

Guerra told SN&R the state restrictions on watering put the city in a bind, though he acknowledged Steinberg’s concerns and said he’s been working with the Sacramento Tree Foundation to help it plant 3,000 trees in south Sacramento.

“We’ve got a challenge to try to figure how we’re going to protect our tree canopy and make sure that low-income communities get the benefit of trees,” Guerra said.

Guerra said he and his wife try to turn on water in the median when they walk their dogs in the neighborhood. He also helped arrange for the trees to be mulched.

Public Works Director Jerry Way is aware of the issue, telling SN&R, “Our staff has spent an inordinate amount of time on the 21st Avenue medians.”

City arborist Kevin Hocker, who reports to Way, said he wasn’t aware of any dying trees in the median. He said the city waters the trees for longer to achieve deep watering and that, while browning leaves could be symptomatic of problems for the trees, they don’t signal their imminent demise.

Hocker said trees in Sacramento are doing well overall. “On the whole, we’ve experienced relatively few losses citywide compared to what the rest of the state is experiencing, what is happening in natural areas.”

It’s not just a local problem. According to the U.S. Forest Service, California’s forests have lost 62 million trees this year alone, the San Diego Tribune reported. Overall, more than 102 million trees have died across the state’s forests since 2010.