Out of adversity comes opportunity. Local landscaping companies and nurseries say the region’s drought, which has prompted water restrictions, has spurred demand for lawn and garden conversions, as well as the installation of “smart” irrigation controllers. Such devices employ computer technology to automate watering.

For Helix Environmental Planning of La Mesa, it’s the upside of the downside, says Brad Lewis, landscape architect.

When home building dropped off, Lewis said the design of “green spaces” — lush landscaping home builders do as a trade-off to get their projects approved — declined.

Since the beginning of the year, however, he says Helix has experienced a twofold increase in requests for conversions to plants that can survive on little water, including succulents and shrubs native to Southern California.

“We’re now doing proposals and talking to homeowner associations’ boards about native plants,” Lewis said.

The shift in the workload to drought-resistant, or xeriscape, landscaping hasn’t yet taken up the slack created by the fallout in green space work for builders and developers.

“But eventually I think it will,” he said. “Water rates will go up this year, and water will get more expensive as the supply decreases.”

He says water saving varies depending on a number of factors. If an owner switches to improved irrigation controllers, but keeps landscaping intact, a 30 percent reduction can be realized. If the owner also replaces lawns and gardens with drought-tolerant foliage, that could bring a 60 percent savings.

13 Percent Reduction

According to the San Diego County Water Authority, the amount of water it receives from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will be reduced by 13 percent starting July 1.

The county imports 71 percent of its supply from Metropolitan.

For the year ending June 30, the supply totaled 710,000 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851 gallons.

According to the city of San Diego’s water-use restrictions that began June 1, lawns for homes and commercial buildings may be watered only three days a week for 10 minutes. There are exceptions for select businesses, such as plant nurseries. Various water districts in the county have followed suit, with others holding off until July 1. The restrictions are scheduled to continue through October.