Summer is here and the heat is rising. When temperatures rise, the Irvine Ranch Water District operations staff remains in a constant state of readiness to respond to fires and/or loss of power in our service area.The water operations department routinely patrols and monitors the canyon areas. A Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is used to remotely monitor all aspects of pump station and reservoir operation. This system uses radio, phone lines and cellular telemetry units to relay information.

All of the pump stations serving the canyon areas are equipped with generators that provide power automatically in the event of a power outage. These generators are tested monthly to ensure proper operation. The fuel tanks are kept full, and the fuel is routinely filtered and sampled for quality. The automatic transfer switches, which direct generator power to pump stations, are inspected and tested annually.

IRWD has battled fire season before. In 2007, the Santiago Fire burned over 28,000 acres, most of which were in the IRWD service area. When the fire occurred, IRWD crews implemented emergency operations procedures and worked around the clock to keep the water flowing to firefighters by connecting emergency generators, operating pumps and manually measuring reservoir depths in areas where downed power lines disabled electronic monitoring systems. IRWD crews installed portable diesel tanks throughout the area to refuel the generators and installed remote communication devices to restore monitoring systems until phone lines became operational again. Due to these efforts, water service to firefighters and residents was maintained throughout the fire episode. After the fire, all sites were evaluated, resulting in improvements to several pump stations including the installation of block walls for added fire protection.

IRWD customers with homes in the foothill and canyon areas are encouraged to look into the benefits of maintaining fire resistant landscaping. The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) endorses planting shrubs such as monkeyflower and autumn sage as well as trees like the California sycamore and toyon. Learn more about these plants on the IRWD website.

Plant maintenance is also necessary for fire resistant plants to offer protection during a wildfire. Watch this video to view an OCFA guide on fire resistant plants. 

Bruce Newell, Senior Reserve Officer at OCFA Station 16 in Modjeska Canyon, also recommends visiting OCFA's website, ocfa.org. "We are currently in the READY stage," explains Newell. "It is the perfect time to clean up around any structure and make a good defensible space. A wonderful wet winter has produced tall grasses and other plants that are now drying out and must be removed or cut back. Warmer weather will soon heighten the risk of fire."

Another important thing for Canyon residents to do is to sign up for IRWD’s CodeRED system. Do not wait for an emergency to happen before you sign up for CodeRED, a high-volume, high-speed system for mass emergency notifications. Since 2010, IRWD has kept customers informed in times of water-related emergencies with CodeRED. Customers have the option of receiving voice, email or text messages within an hour of an emergency. Signing up for CodeRED is as easy as going to the IRWD website.

Joan C. Arneson, IRWD General Counsel and longtime member of the Irvine Ranch Water District family, has died.

“We have lost one of California’s best, someone whose impact on the entire water community will be felt for a very long time,” said IRWD Board President Douglas Reinhart.  “Her wise, yet creative, legal counsel thoughtfully and successfully guided IRWD for decades.”

Arneson first arrived at IRWD in 1978 as a young associate of the well-respected Orange County legal firm lead by Alexander Bowie. She was appointed as IRWD General Counsel in 1984.

Her groundbreaking legal work on budget based rate structures, recycled water and environmental policy, water banking, energy storage systems, special district finance and real estate ownership laid the critical foundation for some of IRWD’s most noteworthy programs.  Her thoughts and guidance influenced in some way nearly every project and program implemented by IRWD, from the San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary and the Natural Treatment System to the San Joaquin Reservoir, the Michelson Water Recycling Plant and the soon-to-be completed Biosolids and Energy Recovery Project.

Over the years, Arneson served on various legal and policy committees for the Association of California Water Agencies, the California Association of Sanitation Agencies and the California WateReuse Association, helping craft important water policy legislation and regulations.

In 2011, on the 50^th anniversary of the District, Joan was awarded an IRWD Certificate of Commendation as a key partner in service from the Board of Directors of the Irvine Ranch Water District for her 25 years plus of excellent service to Irvine Ranch Water District.

“Joan’s creative, solid counsel on technical solutions to policies and projects provided an incalculable benefit to both the agency and our customers,” remembered Paul Cook, IRWD General Manager. “She was a friend and a colleague. She will be missed.”

Joan Arneson was a partner at Bowie, Arneson, Wiles & Giannone. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California at Davis.  

Congratulations to Stephen Beever of Lake Forest, who was the grand prize winner in our annual Fix-a-Leak Contest. He was more than happy to visit IRWD with his best friend, Sierra Mist, to claim his $500 Home Depot gift card. He said he plans on putting the card to good use in sprucing up his yard.

Three other IRWD customers each received $100 Home Depot gift cards for sending in photos of themselves spreading mulch in their gardens, resetting their irrigation timers, or repairing their sprinklers lines. Robert Chan, Soo Hyun Choi and Ashley Sarmiento are all Irvine Residents.

The contest is held each year in March. Customers must complete a 15-minute online customer training portal, which provides information on how to fix certain leaks around their homes.

Congratulations, all!

Visit our RightScape page for information on rebates, workshops, landscaping tips and yes, how to fix leaks.

The IRWD Energy Storage Project was recently selected as a winner at the 6th Annual Golden Hub of Innovation Awards by the Association of California Cities - Orange County (ACC-OC).

The Golden Hub of Innovation Awards recognizes local agencies, cities and individuals that successfully implement programs and policies that save taxpayer dollars and improve services for local residents.

IRWD won the award for its Energy Storage Project, a public-private partnership with Advanced Microgrid Solutions to install the largest network of energy storage systems at a public water agency in the United States. The cutting-edge grid support project will enable IRWD to store energy using Tesla batteries, allowing it to reduce demand from the grid when requested by the utility without interrupting water treatment operations and reducing the need for additional supply from fossil fuel generation in a region challenged by the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

For more information about IRWD's Energy Storage Project, go here.

For more information about ACC-OC, go here.

Delivery of Tesla battery storage units at IRWD DATS facility

New Tesla battery storage units at IRWD DATS facility

Inspecting newly installed Tesla battery storage units