LA’s Trees and the Drought

A lack of water makes trees not just thirsty but vulnerable to decay and disease. That creates the need for urban foresters to strike a delicate balance between water conservation and keeping the trees alive. In the City of Los Angeles alone there are over 10 million trees, and arborists say untold numbers of them are under unprecedented stress because of the drought, leaving them vulnerable to decay and disease. KCRW’s Saul Gonzalez looks at how we can best balance water conservation with giving trees the water they need to survive the drought. (Saul speaks with arborist Nick Araya of Tree Care LA and Rachel Malarich, Director of Urban Forestry for TreePeople.)