Spring Forward for Water Efficiency
Evenings will become lighter beginning Sunday, March 10, 2019, as we set our clocks forward one hour for daylight saving time.
Remember to make this adjustment to your clocks before you go to bed Saturday night.
The semiannual time changes coincide with seasonal changes in weather, when irrigation controllers and sprinkler times should change. Your landscape’s water needs decrease as the days get shorter and cooler, and increase as days get longer and hotter, so it’s a good idea to check your controller at the same time you change your clocks.
To ensure that your sprinkler schedule is not interrupted, change the batteries in your controller as well. Most controllers use a 9-volt battery to maintain the programmed schedule in the case of a power outage. When the controller battery dies, the schedule automatically resets to the factory default of watering 10 minutes a day, seven days a week.
And while you are changing out your irrigation controller battery, it’s also a good time to change out the batteries in your home smoke detectors.
2019 Science Fair Water-Related Project Winners
Irvine Ranch Water District participated in project judging for the annual Irvine Unified School District Science Fair on Feb. 6, 2019, at Northwood High School. Students entered dozens of water-related projects, and four were chosen for recognition. Students will be honored at the IRWD board meeting on May 29, and the winning students’ schools will each receive $100 toward their science education programs. IRWD has sponsored the IUSD Science Fair since its inception and congratulates the following students.
Emily Dissanayake
Cypress Village Elementary
Oil Spill Clean-up
Jongmin Chae
Oak Creek Elementary
How does the time of day affect pH in pools?
Riya Gupta & Akhila Dhurjati
Stonegate Elementary
Solar Water Heater
James Chen
University High School
Environmentally relevant reactions between dinitirogen pentoxide with organic acids and chlorine ions at seawater surface
Special thanks to the IRWD judges: Courtney Bonilla, Jessica Lieuw, Toni Lynch and Allan Pascual.
IRWD Data Drives Smart Sprinklers
Changes in the weather say a lot about your landscape’s water needs. That’s why IRWD operates three weather stations—in the coastal, central and foothill regions—to continually monitor site-specific data such as temperature, solar radiation, wind and humidity. The information gathered is used to calculate the amount of water landscape needs to thrive in its specific climate zone.
IRWD recently moved its central weather station to a facility operated by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. As a part of our partnership, IRWD renovated the nearby UC ANR station, which is part of the California Irrigation Management Information System network of over 145 weather stations statewide. Having the two stations almost sideby-side helps researchers compare data for optimal accuracy.
If you have a smart controller at your home, it uses live or historical weather data to manage watering times and frequency. Your controller receives data from an on-site sensor or a signal from a local weather station. By automatically shutting off on cold and rainy days, it can cut water use 15-30%.
Working together, IRWD and UC ANR put on workshops and events throughout the year, helping residents adopt water-efficient and sustainable practices for their gardens.
To learn more about weather data, visit RightScapeNow.com/landscape-resources/et-weather-center. If you don’t have a weather-based irrigation controller, we might have a rebate to help you buy one. Find out at RightScapeNow.com/rebates.
Sign Up Now for 2019 Water Tours
Curious where your drinking water comes from and what happens to it after it disappears down the drain? Get answers to these questions and more during one of our free spring resident tours: April 12, April 13 and May 4. Learn about the journey your drinking water takes, the water recycling process, water conservation, and IRWD’s environmental stewardship. Meet other IRWD customers while enjoying walking tours of the innovative Michelson Water Recycling Plant and the beautiful San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. Ride by bus to the San Joaquin Reservoir. The day is capped with lunch and a discussion about water conservation. Sign up at irwd.com/learning/request-a-resident-tour.
Love Your Water District: the 411
What is Irvine Ranch Water District and what do we do? Here is a primer:
- We are a California special district—an independent, not-for-profit government agency—responsible for providing highquality drinking water, sewage collection and recycled water.
- We serve all of Irvine, parts of Tustin, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Orange and Costa Mesa, and some unincorporated areas of Orange County.
- You can contact us for information about your water or sewer service, apply for our rebates on waterconservation products, attend our landscaping workshops or water-awareness tours, and invite us to your home or business to assess how you can save water. • Learn more at irwd.com/about-us.
Our names sound similar, but IRWD is separate from the City of Irvine and the Irvine Company.
- The City of Irvine provides essential services associated with public safety, land use, street maintenance, parks, recreation, senior services, library services, economic development, animal control, and more. Visit cityofirvine.org.
- The Irvine Company is a privately held real-estate investment company credited with creating and implementing the unique vision behind Irvine’s master-planned communities. Visit irvinecompany.com/about/
