Fix a Leak and Win
The 2016 Fix a Leak Week is March 20-26, so Irvine Ranch Water District will observe it by hosting a contest for leak detectives. IRWD customers can win one of five $100 Home Depot gift card for their efforts.
To enter, use this checklist and be a leak detective:
- Check for broken sprinklers or overspray. Fix and adjust your sprinklers if you find these problems.
- Check your sprinkler controller to ensure it has been adjusted for seasonal low-water use.
- Check for toilet flapper leaks by dropping leak tablets or food coloring into your tank. If water in the bowl becomes colored, you have a leak.
Other places you might find leaks in your home are hose bibs, irrigation valves and lines, faucets, showerheads, bathtub/shower diverters, water heaters and swimming pools and spas.
Submit a photo taken of you doing any of these leak detecting activities and submit the photos online through March 31, at irwd.com/fixaleak. For each photo submitted, participants will receive an entry to win a $100 gift card to Home Depot. All participants will receive a coupon in the mail good for $5 at Home Depot (one per household, while supplies last. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery).
Fix a Leak Week is sponsored in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program. Full contest details are available at irwd.com/fixaleak.
Prepare for Spring – Landscape Events Abound!
Plenty of landscape workshops and events are on tap to assist you in achieving water savings, while creating and maintaining an attractive yard.
RightScape Series:
- Drip Irrigation Made Easy – convert existing sprinklers into drip. Wednesday, February 17, 6-8 p.m.
- Soil, Water and Plant Relationships – build up soils to grow healthier plants with less water. Wednesday, February 24, 6-8 p.m.
- Turf Be Gone – Learn how to remove your lawn and replace it with beautiful, drought-friendly plants. Wednesday, March 9, 6-8 p.m.
Sign up on our website. All workshops are held at Irvine Ranch Water District’s headquarters office, 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine.
Home Depot Events:
On Saturday, March 5, Home Depot in Lake Forest is hosting a garden event in conjunction with IRWD from 8 a.m. to noon. The store is located at 20021 Lake Forest Drive.
Another event is scheduled for the Home Depot in Irvine on Saturday, March 19, 8 a.m. to noon. The store is located at 6200 Irvine Boulevard, Irvine.
Receive special discounts on select varieties of attractive water-efficient plants. Enjoy vendor displays, educational demonstrations, give-aways, children’s activities, and more.
Learn from local experts how to plan a water-efficient landscape, while saving money and beautifying your yard.
Water Efficiency 101 Workshop:
Learn how to save water and money. Receive tips on how to be more efficient inside and outside your home. This workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, 6-8 p.m. Sign up for this workshop at rightscapenow.com/events.
Color Your World with Drought Friendly Landscaping
IRWD now offers two different ways for you to remove your grass lawn and replace it with a beautiful, drought friendly landscape!
1. The Do-It-Yourself Program – This is the original turf removal rebate program. IRWD provides a rebate of $2/square foot of turf removed, up to a maximum of 3,000 sq. ft. More details online at rightscapenow.com/turf.
2. The “Turn-Key” Program – This new program gives customers the option of using a professional landscape design company to do all of the turf removal and landscape installation work for them, from start to finish. To learn more about this program, visit rightscapenow.com/turnkeyturf.
You can also attend one of our Rightscape workshops to learn about the right plants, right watering schedules and right equipment. Watch our website for announcements about future workshops.
IRWD Continues to Meet Water Conservation Target through December
During the month of December, IRWD customers collectively used 13.1 percent less water compared to December 2013. While this reduction in water use is slightly under the monthly water savings target for December, if IRWD customers continue saving water in the coming months, the District remains in good shape to meet its overall savings target. For the seven-month period of June-December 2015, water use in the IRWD service area dropped 17.4 percent from the same seven-month period in 2013. IRWD's overall target is 16 percent.
IRWD customers have performed admirably in heeding the state's calls to reduce water use, saving over 2.2 billion gallons of water since June 1st. It is expected that statewide water use restrictions will continue through next summer and fall, requiring continued diligence on the behalf of all residents to make lifestyle changes that use less water.
With an El Niño system that has brought moderate rainfall to the region in recent weeks, IRWD reminds its customers to turn off their sprinklers for the remainder of winter in order to prevent the needless use of water. Residents now also have two different options for removing their turf and replacing it with drought friendly landscaping. The DIY turf removal program pays customers $2/sq. ft. of turf removed, while the Turn-Key turf removal program provides full turf removal and landscape installation services at an extremely competitive cost.
It is also a great time to take advantage of the rain by purchasing one or more rain barrels, which can be purchased online or at one of the District's upcoming Home Depot Parking Lot events in January. Event details follow below:
Saturday, January 16th - 8 AM to 12 PM
Home Depot, 20021 Lake Forest Road in Lake Forest
Saturday, January 23rd - 8 AM to 12 PM
Home Depot, 6200 Irvine Blvd in Irvine
Attendees will have the opportunity to apply for rebates on the purchase of rain barrels and high-efficiency toilets, as well as sit in on a rainwater harvesting workshop.
For more information, please visit the IRWD Drought and El Niño pages. To find out which rebates IRWD offers to its customers, go to rightscapenow.com/rebates.
New Pollinators Garden Coming to the San Joaquin Marsh – Planting Help Needed
Get warmed up for your spring planting by assisting Sea and Sage Audubon volunteers in giving more than 100 plants a new home at the San Joaquin Marsh’s new Pollinators Garden on Saturday, January 16, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
This garden is located adjacent to the meadow behind the Duck Club. It was designed to attract bees, which are responsible for pollinating about one third of the food consumed by humans. Bee populations have been declining in recent years and the creation of pollinator-friendly gardens is seen as a way to help the bees.
Sea and Sage and Irvine Ranch Water District began developing the demonstration garden plot in October, with installation of a rabbit-proof fence. The purpose is to use a variety of native plants so something is in flower during each season. No pesticides will be used and dead limbs will be safely left as nesting sites and to provide a native bee post.
On the planting palette is Manzanita, ceanothus, island bush snapdragon, bladderpod, white sage, black sage, California fuchsia, California goldenrod, coyote mint, desert penstemon, foothill penstemon and apricot mallow.
If you would like to join Sea and Sage on Saturday, RSVP with Trude Hurd at (949) 261-7964, or seaandsage@sbcglobal.net. Meet behind the Duck Club and bring a shovel, gloves and kneeling pad. Minimum age for participation is 13 years of age and children must be accompanied by an adult.
The event will be rescheduled if it rains.
More information about the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary is located on our website.
