Drought? You Can Help!
Did you know that 60 percent of a home’s total water is used outdoors? Become a drought buster – join your fellow Californians in reducing your water use. Look outdoors to save the most water.
Check your sprinklers. Watering your landscape efficiently is the biggest way to reduce your water usage. It is important to check your sprinklers for leaks and overspray – your sidewalks don’t need to be watered.
Have you considered switching to rotating sprinkler nozzles? Rotating nozzles use 20 percent less water than standard sprinkler heads. IRWD currently offers a rebate for $4 per nozzle. Check out the IRWD Calscape page for more information.
Use our Watering Schedule. Take the schedule from the IRWD billing insert, Pipelines, and place it near your timer, or give it to your gardener.
Using this IRWD suggested watering schedule will help properly irrigate your yard using the least amount of water necessary.
Start with this schedule and increase the times only if your plants start dying. If this occurs only in isolated areas, check the operation of your irrigation system before increasing the time.
Install a Smart Timer. Be the most efficient person in your neighborhood: install a smart timer, or weather-based irrigation controller (WBIC).
Most homes use a sprinkler timer, which leaves lots of room for human error because it needs to be programmed manually. Using a smart timer maximizes efficiency and saves water.
A smart timer is a weather-based irrigation controller that determines how much to water your landscape based on actual site specific weather conditions, such as temperature and humidity. Use the coupon from your May Pipelines to receive a $500 rebate for a timer - $380 per clock, plus an additional $120 for installation.
Check out our website for information on smart timer rebates.
Landscape Workshop Coming Up
It’s that time of year when many of us are thinking of spring planting and Irvine Ranch Water District can help.
Come to a free landscape workshop at the Irvine Ranch Water District headquarters building on Wednesday, May 28, 6 p.m., to have all of your questions answered by the experts.
Learn about creating a drought-resistant garden, without sacrificing color and aesthetics. Our address is 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine. To sign up, email calscape@irwd.com and include your name and number of attendees.
Irvine Ranch Water District Supports Korean Cultural Festival
The 5th Annual Irvine Korean Cultural Festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Irvine Civic Center Piazza, 1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine.
Join IRWD as we celebrate Irvine’s diverse cultural heritage. All are welcome and admission and parking are free. IRWD is proud to support this event. More information is available at www.irvinekoreanfestival.com
Summer Camps Abound at IRWD San Joaquin Marsh
School will be out for summer before we know it and it’s time to think about summer camp. Look no further than your own back yard – the Irvine Ranch Water District San Joaquin Marsh. Sea and Sage Audubon and the Discovery Science Center are gearing up to once again present their unique summer camps at the Marsh.
Sea and Sage has provided summer nature camps at the Marsh for more than 20 years. The first offering is Fledgling Camp for the younger set – seven and eight year-olds. This camp takes place June 23-27, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Campers will learn observational skills on daily bird nature walks, where they will learn to keep a birding journal. Games, learning songs and doing crafts will keep campers busy.
Marsh Bird Camp sessions are June 23-27 and July 7-11, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Campers will explore all aspects of Marsh bird life, enjoy daily nature walks, see live hawks and owls from a rehabilitator, paint a birdbath, keep a nature journal, do crafts and much more.
Birds, Bugs and Blossoms Camp is July 14-18, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., for campers 11 years and older. This camp will cover birds, bugs, and native plants of the neighborhood. Campers will take daily walks, an off-site field trip, enjoy craft activities, learn bird should and participate in a scavenger hunt.
Visit the Sea and Sage Audubon website for information on how to register for camp.
The summer camp partnership between IRWD and the Discovery Science Center is entering its fifth year. Camp offerings are for children ages five through 10.
Summer Smiles camp is geared toward the adventurous five and six-year-olds. Camps will investigate the world of frogs, bats, butterflies and crabs. They will use magnifiers to get an up-close look at butterfly wings, concoct ooey, gooey slime, make a bat box, and grind their own colorful sand. The young explores will learn the purpose of the Marsh’s natural filtration ponds during nature hikes in this scenic setting. The dates for this camp are July 7-11, July 21-25 and August 18-22, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Project Discovery is for youngsters aged seven to 10. Campers will enjoy a series of challenge-based activities, such as testing different models for flight, dropping an egg without breaking it and constructing a catapult. They will get to test their creations in a fun and friendly camp-wide competition. Campers will investigate the secrets of the solar system and take a close look at our planet. Dates for this camp are June 30-July 4, July 14-18, July 28-August 1, August 11-15, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Information about Discovery Science Center summer camps is available on their website.
Ninety Trees Beautify UC Irvine Housing
For the past three years, UC Irvine has implemented the student housing initiative aimed at planting trees throughout the vast housing complexes dotted around the campus. Irvine Ranch Water District and the Shadetree Partnership have collaborated to provide a variety of trees from the Shadetree nursery to the effort.
“We have had volunteers plant 700 trees provided by the partnership,” said Matt Deines, who works with UCI’s environmental planners and is a member of the Shadetree board. “The goal is to plant trees near the paths for the ecological effects, provide bird habitat, create an urban treescape and improve air quality.”
On Earth Day, student volunteers gathered to plant 90 trees at the UCI Palo Verde Student Housing complex. Many of the students were from Prof. Peter Bowler’s classes on sustainability.
“We have gone to the UCI arboretum and to the San Joaquin wetlands with our class,” said student Elise Jackson.
Dave Asman, landscape contracts administrator for IRWD and Shadetree representative, gathered with students and instructed them how to plant the strawberry trees, California peppers, Canary Island pines, Chinese flame trees, crape myrtles, Chinese Pistache, Brisbane Box and coast live oaks. Then the students took over.
The California friendly trees were selected from Shadetree’s vast inventory. Shadetree’s nursery is located at UCI and monthly nursery events take place. Participating in the UCI planting was Steve Reed, a volunteer manager of the Shadetree Nursery. He estimated that he and volunteer John Boone have logged in 2,000 hours at Shadetree since they became involved a few years ago.
“There is always a lot of work to do,” Reed said. “We need volunteers to rake, plant, weed and prune. Every day is Earth Day at Shadetree Partnership.”
Check out Shadetree’s website for information on future plantings, or nursery events.
