Happy New Yard
You say you have been thinking about re-landscaping your yard to drought-tolerant plants in order to save water and money? Did you know that January is the best time to begin the process?
Start small by replacing water-guzzling grass at the curbside and driveway strip areas. This is also a good time to convert existing sprinkler spray heads to drip irrigation in these areas.
The next step is to consider replacing the remainder of your front yard grass with water-efficient, climate-appropriate landscaping. If 40 percent of your landscape is drought-friendly, you should be able to stay within your monthly water budget. When your neighbors see what a colorful, drought-tolerant landscape looks like, they may be inspired to follow your example.
Ideas for a drought-friendly landscape:
- Low water-use plants – drought-friendly and/or California native varieties
- Drip irrigation – puts water where it’s needed the most – at the roots of the plants
- Permeable hardscape – lets water percolate on-side, reducing runoff
- Mulch, both organic and inorganic – helps retain soil moisture and suppress weed growth
Check out RightScapeNow.com to help you get started.
IRWD Selects President, Vice President
The Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors selected Douglas J. Reinhart to serve as President
and Peer Swan to serve as Vice President for 2017. The selection was made at the January 9 board meeting.
Reinhart was appointed to the IRWD Board of Directors in 2004 to fill a board vacancy and was subsequently elected to four-year terms in 2006 and 2010. He served as President of the Board in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013, having previously served as Vice President in 2006. Reinhart currently serves on the District's Engineering and Operations Committee and several other ad hoc committees.
He is a registered civil engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the private sector, directing projects in water, wastewater and other infrastructure. Reinhart was the president and an owner of ASL Consulting Engineers before its acquisition by Tetra Tech in 1999. He then served as the Divisional Executive Vice President for Tetra Tech for the western United States. Reinhart retired from Tetra Tech in 2004 and began a consulting business.
He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. He is a registered civil engineer in both California and Arizona and a registered control systems engineer in California.
The Gifts That Keep on Saving
Give yourself a holiday gift of water savings and money in your pocket by taking advantage of our rebate programs on high-efficiency clothes washers and toilets, irrigation controllers, rotating spray nozzles, and rain barrels.
In addition, the turf-removal program allows you to receive money by taking out your thirsty grass and replacing it with a beautiful drought-tolerant yard. Receive $2 per square foot of turf removed.
High-efficiency clothes washers use 55 percent less water than standard washers, saving about 75,000 gallons of water over its lifetime. IRWD customers receive up to $250 for replacing their washers.
Other rebates include: $150 for high-efficiency toilets (max of nine toilets); up to $155 for weather-based irrigation controllers; $75 for rain barrels, and $2 per rotating spray nozzles (minimum of 30 nozzles).
For more information and a list of qualified rebate products, visit our website.
Children’s Water Education Festival Registration Underway
Organizers continue to take reservations for the 2017 Children’s Water Education Festival, scheduled for March 29 and 30 at UC Irvine’s Aldrich Park. Teachers of third through fifth grade students within the Irvine Ranch Water District service area are encouraged to register for the event before the December 16 deadline.
The Festival presents a unique opportunity to educate students about local water issues and help them understand how they can protect water supplies and their environment. Since its inception 21 years ago more than 115,000 children from schools throughout Orange County have been able to experience the Festival and all it has to offer.
The 2016 festival hosted students from nearly 75 public, private and home schools from 20 Orange County cities. More than 65 organizations devoted their time and resources to assist in educating budding young environmental stewards. A total of 652 students from the IRWD service area attended the two-day event in 2016.
The Festival is provided at no cost to Orange County schools. Third through fifth grade teachers and students are invited to attend. Go to the festival’s website for information and to register for the event.
New RightScape Garden Unveiled at San Joaquin Marsh
Next time you visit IRWD’s San Joaquin Marsh, be sure to stop by the new demonstration garden. This garden contains more than three dozen plant varieties that illustrate how colorful and practical drought-tolerant landscaping can be.
The new garden’s distinctive feature is a river rock storm water bioswale, which serves to collect irrigation and rain water and allowing it to percolate into the ground instead of running into the storm drains.
This demonstration garden showcases a hybrid of native and non-native drought-tolerant plants that would work well in any Southern California yard. Each plant is identified with a plant marker and QR bar code to scan for mobile access and plant care information.
The demonstration garden is located between the pink San Joaquin Marsh House visitors center and the green caretaker’s house. The garden was planted in September and it should take about two years for the plants to fully mature and fill in.
You can visit the garden and the Marsh 365 days a year, dawn to dusk.
If you would like to see a demonstration garden that has matured, stop by our Sand Canyon headquarters office and visit the garden that was planted two years ago.
Visit our RightScape website for more water-saving information.
