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Olivenhain Municipal Water District Logo landscape design workshops

OMWD Offers Free Water-Wise Landscape Design Workshop on October 8

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Encinitas, Calif. — Olivenhain Municipal Water District invites members of the public to attend a free water-wise landscape design workshop on Saturday, October 8 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event will be held at OMWD’s headquarters at 1966 Olivenhain Road in Encinitas. Drought survival kits will also be available free of charge, featuring water reuse buckets, hose nozzles, moisture sensors, and other water-saving tools.

OMWD Board President Larry Watt will lead a discussion about drought conditions. Steve Sherman of California Landscape Technologies will follow with an informative and interactive workshop that will feature methods to reduce outdoor water use and increase irrigation efficiencies. Registration for the workshop is available at www.olivenhain.com/events.

Water-wise and WaterSmart rebates

This public event is one of the first at OMWD’s newly improved headquarters. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the new facilities, learn more about the ongoing drought, get advice on water conservation practices, and learn more about available rebate programs.

“Every drop of recycled water used on our landscapes replaces a drop of imported drinking water,” said OMWD Board Secretary Bob Topolavac, after the agency received a water recycling award recently. “With the state now in its third consecutive dry year, it is more critical than ever to be promoting the benefits of recycled water to new potential users to expand the use of this sustainable water supply.”

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Fall tips-water saving-drought

Fall Water-Saving Tips

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Water-saving actions by everyone in San Diego County during the current drought can help conserve more of our most precious resource.

While San Diego County continues to have enough water due to long-term investments in water sources and conservation, the region’s long-term supply reliability depends on a continued commitment to water-use efficiency indoors and outdoors by homes and businesses both large and small.

Here are some timely tips to save water this fall.

Simple Water-Saving Tips For Fall

Find a discount. Take advantage of rebates on products that help reduce indoor and outdoor water use.

Shorten the shower. Keep showers to five minutes or fewer and save 2.5 gallons per minute.

Go low. Install aerators on faucets and low-flow showerheads to instantly save water every time you turn the tap.

Deploy the drip. Irrigate gardens with drip systems that minimize water waste by delivering water right at the roots.

Get smart. Install weather-based irrigation controllers in your landscape to take advantage of the latest smart technology that maximizes water-use efficiency.

Monitor the moisture. Use moisture meters to determine when and how much water plants need.

Embrace the broom. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways, sidewalks, and patios.

Check your water footprint. Use an online water-use calculator to assess how much water your home uses compared to a WaterSmart home.

Turn to a pro. When it’s time to hire a landscaping professional, start with the list of Qualified Water-Efficient Landscapers who can make sure you are making the most of every drop.

Plant with perfection. Check out all the beautiful WaterSmart plant options that pair perfectly with San Diego County’s Mediterranean climate.

Tap technology

Residents can take advantage of savings on a variety of water-saving technologies such as high-efficiency clothes washers and toilets, rain barrels and irrigation nozzles. Residents can schedule free WaterSmart Checkups to make their properties more water-efficient.

Check out the WaterSmart Living series of articles for helpful landscape makeover information

For more tips, resources and rebates, go to watersmartsd.org.

Vallecitos Videos Shared Nationwide by EPA WaterSense

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Videos produced by the Vallecitos Water District public affairs team are now being distributed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program to help educate the public about water conservation nationwide. The videos can be downloaded for free on the EPA WaterSense partner platform.

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San Diego City Council Passes 3% Increase in Water Rates

/in , , /by /CBS8by Chris Gros Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego City Council met on Tuesday and passed a 3% increase in water rates to residents of the city.

The water rate increase comes after the San Diego County Water Authority, San Diego’s supplier of water, increased its rates by about 5% for treated water and nearly 4% for untreated water.

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Low-Flow Showers Are Back in Spotlight Amid Water Shortages, Drought

/in , , /by /Bloomberg by James Tarmy

People in California are not noticeably dirtier than other Americans, and yet residents of the country’s most populous state use less water than many of their fellow citizens to bathe, wash their hands, and flush their toilets.

Showerheads in California use a maximum of 1.8 gallons of water every minute; Texas residents, on the other hand, are inundated with 2.5 gallons, the most the Environmental Protection Agency allows. California’s toilets use no more than 1.28 gallons per flush even though the federal cap is 1.6.

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Water Use Cut in Half, Rancho California Water District Official Says

/in , , /by /Patchby City News Service

Riverside County water suppliers told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that conservation efforts are aiding the region in weathering the current severe drought, but their future ability to meet demand will depend on new infrastructure and changes in consumption habits.

“As the watersheds dry up in the Southwest, we need to be concerned about some things,” Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District Manager Dan Jaggers told the board during a presentation on the drought emergency. “As the drought continues, we will begin to have further restrictions. People need to know how serious this is.”

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Marina Coast Water District Plans to Restart Desalination Plant Dormant Since 2003

/in , , /by /KSWB by Josh Copitch

The Marina Coast Water District (MCWD) announced at a meeting of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors that it is going to restart its long-dormant desalination plant.

Remley Scherzinger, general manager for MCWD, told the supervisors that to augment their current water supply they’ll need to return to their already-built desal plant.

The desal facility was built in 1997 and was operated until 2003.

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Opinion: California’s Water Usage was Built on a Historic Lie. The Cost is Now Apparent

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Michael Hiltzik

It’s human nature to mark big-number anniversaries, but there’s a centennial looming just ahead that Californians — and other Westerners — might not want to celebrate.

It’s the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact, a seven-state agreement that was signed Nov. 24, 1922.

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Rare September Rains Bring Respite to Drought-Stricken Inland California

/in , /by /Washington Postby Zach Rosenthal

Much-needed rainfall and thunderstorms are hitting central and northern parts of California, bringing relief to places that typically see little precipitation in September. An upper-level low-pressure system, an occurrence more likely in winter, is churning off the coast of Northern California. It follows unprecedented heat across much of California at the start of September, when a prolonged heat wave shattered thousands of records across the West.

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The Vallecitos Water District's series of videos on using water wisely are being distributed nationwide through the EPA WaterSense program. Photo: Vallecitos Water District/YouTube

Vallecitos Videos Shared Nationwide by EPA WaterSense

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Videos produced by the Vallecitos Water District public affairs team are now being distributed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program to help educate the public about water conservation nationwide. The videos can be downloaded for free on the EPA WaterSense partner platform.

The district created a series of twelve videos. A new one will be released each month and posted on the Vallecitos Water District’s social media, and shared through the EPA’s social media.

Video for October: “Shower with Power”

“We’ve found video to be a powerful communication tool at the Vallecitos Water District, and we invest a great deal of time and effort in producing high-quality information for our ratepayers,” said Chris Robbins, Vallecitos Water District Public Information/Conservation Supervisor. “We received the EPA request to partner with them to share our videos with other organizations across the U.S. We considered it a compliment and validation of our investment. We’re glad to share the information with a larger audience.”

Creativity and fun

VWD Public Information Representative Alicia Yerman collaborated with Beth Livingston and Veronica Blette of the EPA on the productions including scripting, storyboards, and visual elements.

“Beth and Veronica were the stars, as they provided a lot of the graphics and the data for us to use and make our own for the video,” said Yerman. “They made sure the graphics were up to date with the statistics and allowed us to be free and open for creativity and fun for creating the videos for other agencies to share and download. They helped review the videos to make sure the language fit their goals and criteria.”

November 2022 video has the cheeky title “Ode to the Commode”

WaterSense is a program sponsored by the EPA, designed to encourage water efficiency in the U.S. through the use of a special label on consumer products. The goal of the program is to protect the future of the nation’s water supply by encouraging a nationwide ethic of water efficiency to conserve water resources for future generations and reduce infrastructure costs.

The WaterSense label makes it simple to find water-efficient products, new homes, and programs meeting the EPA’s criteria for efficiency and performance. WaterSense-labeled products and services are certified to use at least 20% less water, save energy, and perform as well as or better than regular models.

Starting in 2019, VWD began using video to document the district’s workforce and infrastructure improvements on its social media platforms and has also engaged the public with discussions of critically important water management issues. It has won multiple awards for its work. VWD also offers live video of its board meetings and other public discussions on its YouTube channel.

(Editors Note: The Vallecitos Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)