Outreach to water users in San Diego, CA, in the last few years has been carried out by the campaign “No Time to Waste, No Water to Waste”.
“This campaign was developed to heighten the awareness and need for urgent action during California’s drought, and the need to stay within supply allocations set by water wholesalers,” explains Luis Generoso, Water Resources Manager for The City of San Diego Water Department. “It has been a good tool to use and the resulting water usage was lower than expected, good news for all. We have used both traditional and non-traditional media.
“Now that the drought response levels have been lifted,” he continues, “the campaign has switched to a more inclusive, longer-lasting message of “˜San Diegans Waste No Water’. It brings in the community element, that you are not alone in your efforts, and that, collectively, San Diegans have achieved significant water savings.
“Certain elements that lend to the overall campaign have been successful, too,” he goes on to say, “like the film contest that challenges high school and college students to create 30-second PSAs. Information on the contest is available on our website [ WasteNoWater.org ].”
In San Diego, the most popular rebates offered have been those for landscape water use, as more people consider alternatives to traditional landscape options.
Because recent changes in the City of San Diego’s Emergency Water Regulations have established new restrictions on water use, the enforcement and penalty process for residents who ignore irrigation restrictions has been clarified. Currently, all water waste is prohibited in Section 67.3803 of the San Diego Municipal Code. Wasting water is now illegal at all times, even when Drought Response Levels are not officially in effect. The City can penalize anyone who continues to waste water with a series of escalating penalties, up to and including termination of water service. And if customers continue to waste water after being contacted by the Water Department’s Conservation staff, the City’s Code Enforcement Section can step in. At that point, any continued refusal to discontinue overwatering, failure to repair leaks, or other water waste actions, empowers the Code Enforcement Officer or Water Waste Investigator to fashion an appropriate response.
As for all violations of the Municipal City Code, Code Enforcement Officers have a variety of remedies to help ensure compliance, starting with education on the restrictions, and information about resources available to assist customers with compliance.
Enforcement options also include a series of stricter and more punitive actions, including:
- a warning letter
- administrative citations ($100, $250, $500, $750, $1,000)
- a Notice of Violation (with civil penalties up to $2,500 per day per violation)
- referral to the City Attorney for civil or criminal prosecution
- shut off the water service (only when all other remedies have failed)
Control Without Repression
The City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, CA, is a hospital campus, with the Cancer Center, Research Institute, and a graduate school. It’s a 120-acre campus with 125 buildings. There are 48 acres of landscape with diverse gardens, including a famous rose garden, and Japanese koi pond and reflection garden. There are 1,600 different tree specimens and more than a million square feet of turf. Current restrictions allow watering (irrigation) between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Too much water or too little water can cause problems, resulting in plant replacement or adverse impacts on the health of specialty horticulture collections. Overwatering can lead to liability for slips and falls; or excess mildew, dust, and mold, all of which are detrimental to hospital structures and the hygienic medical environment.
Enter HydroPoint WeatherTRAK. The WeatherTRAK Central Internet Management application automates irrigation and enables remote programming changes around events, rather than traditional truck rolls and manual adjustment. Events? There are thousands of pedestrians and numerous special events that stress the beautiful open space landscapes.
Following events, the WeatherTRAK system alerts prioritized repairs to sprinkler heads and other components. The system has smart irrigation controllers that serve as a property management tool to monitor outdoor water requirements and irrigation windows. The automated HydroPoint WeatherTRAK Scheduling Engine delivers precise amounts of water based on specific landscape zones and environmental conditions. Schedules dynamically adjust as local weather changes to eliminate water waste and runoff.
The results? The HydroPoint system has reduced irrigation run times by 30%. The system has reduced outdoor water use 25% over the entire campus in its first year of operation. It has achieved a 10% reduction of overall water use (indoor and outdoor), despite 15% growth in facilities and buildings. That, to me, looks like control with benefits.
Let’s move across country. Regency Centers, headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, has a portfolio of 399 centers and 55 million square feet as the owner, operator, and developer of community shopping centers. When it was discovered that 50% of their total water consumption was used for irrigation–representing a significant (and increasing) operating expense–Regency conducted an initial pilot of smart irrigation controllers in 2007 with tests at six properties. They discovered that HydroPoint WeatherTRAK delivered superior savings and two-way communications technology. In 2008, Regency installed the controllers at 36 properties.
The HydroPoint technology is now used at 93 properties in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Installation sites were chosen based on highest water rate or highest water consumption. Many of the controllers were financed by local municipal rebates. Regency has implemented 169 WeatherTRAK smart irrigation controllers at 93 properties across the country, along with savings of $350,000 and 96 million gallons of water each year.
In Santa Clarita, CA–a city of about 185,000 residents–a 27% water saving has been achieved, actually surpassing the City’s goal of saving 180 million gallons per year. The City achieved immediate fiscal relief by reducing the cost to irrigate its facilities, saving $300,000 to $400,000 a year and deflecting future water rate increases that had been projected to rise from 20% to 40%. With this program, the City of Santa Clarita automatically complies with California AB 1881, as well as SBx7-78 which mandate reduction of water use to 20% by 2020.
One of the main causes of the city’s higher water use was archaic irrigation, including outdated clocks used for 700 acres of City parks, medians, and streetscapes. 530 HydroPoint WeatherTRAK controllers were installed across 40 landscape districts for the city over 80 days. To keep the systems in perfect order, nine different landscape companies are responsible for maintenance.
Not All Demand Is Municipal or Residential
When it comes to water resource management, the challenges and solutions are not contained to metropolitan areas. In the “city”, irrigation refers to landscaping at home or at the office (and residential irrigation has drawn deserved attention), but there is the much broader, more consuming area of water use–agriculture.
Vast amounts of water (and energy) are used for agriculture (over 60% in some areas, and close to 90% along our nation’s food corridors). As the world and our own national populations increase into the several billions, that unproductive land must be made productive. That means water and fertilization. Although one solution–micro-irrigation–has proven useful, the sad truth is that less than 10% of growers use drip irrigation, despite its ability to increase crop yield dramatically.
Unfortunately, there continue to be many growers who are unaware of the newer technologies and innovations available to them. But as a new group of younger, more informed and better educated farmers join the ranks of the agricultural industry, there’s hope. These new faces can help eliminate to outdated practices and begin to shift our nation’s agriculture industry away from the inefficiencies of the past and towards stronger, more profitable enterprises–all with more efficient water use.
Toro has positioned itself as a leader in drip irrigation and micro-irrigation for both residential and agricultural customers.
One of the challenges the company faces when talking to growers is convincing them that drip irrigation is the best solution.
“We must explain why drip irrigation is a better technique for them,” notes Claude Corcos, marketing manager at Toro Micro-Irrigation.
Much of the marketing work involves breaking down barriers that have existed for years. Today’s growers need to understand and experience the benefits of drip irrigation for themselves, before considering the benefits for local communities’ water supply.
“As with all new technologies,” adds Corcos, “skill and expertise are needed when you progress to use them. You don’t bring this kind of important solution to a water problem just by writing a check.”
Almonds are a popular and economically important crop for California. Today, some 90% of the state’s almond acreage (represented in the California Almond Sustainability Program, CASP) is irrigated by efficient micro-irrigation systems. Recent research also showed a key aspect of these growers’ success–one which refers us back to the comment by Toro’s Corcos about skill and expertise–routine maintenance and informed operation. In almond orchards that are micro-irrigated, 90% are inspected weekly for leaks and clogs in the system, 87% have the lines flushed at the start or middle of the season, and 65% have pressure-compensating emitters.
Cox Valley View Farms in Long Island, KS, converted to Toro drip irrigation some years ago. The conversion allowed owner Steven Cox to stretch limited water supplies while increasing yields and grain quality.
“Before drip, we were trying to flood irrigate 60 acres with a 250 gpm well,” explains Cox. “We were lucky if we got top yields on 25% of the field. I now get top yields on 100% of the field because of the increased uniformity and efficiency I get with drip irrigation.”
The farm’s central water source–the Ogallala Aquifer–is dwindling, making conservation key to survival. By switching to drip irrigation, farming and the aquifer can sustainably coexist. Cox has stretched his annual allowance of 18 inches of water to produce 300 bushels of corn per acre compared to 150, and achieved a grain test weight of 62 pounds per bushel as opposed to the previous 58.
There have been other benefits as well. In comparison with flood irrigation, drip irrigation requires little labor, and the reduced energy requirements pivots. Fertilizers can be placed exactly where needed, and no-till farming becomes a reality. Best of all is, no water is wasted due to evaporation, runoff, wind drift, or deep percolation.
“With a one-inch application of water, the driest plant will get 0.9 inches of water, and the wettest will receive 1.1 inches,” says Cox. “This allows me to get the most from every gallon of water I pump from the aquifer.”
The drip irrigation system took less than two years to pay for itself, much less than the owner had anticipated.
Less use of water, fertilizer, and labor, along with increased yields and reduced runoff, were also some of the (usual) benefits for Standage Farms Inc., in Vale, OR, when they made the switch to drip irrigation.
“Drip nurtures a healthier, stronger plant,” advises Larry Standage, owner of Standage Farms. “That really shows up during extreme heat events. We also use less fertilizer with the drip, which has been significant with recent fertilizer costs tripling.”
Standage also uses expertise and skill to keep his family’s drip system functioning well. He has found the best wetting pattern is achieved with a 12-hour set, with intervals between irrigations determined by weather and sensors.
“The 6-mil. Aqua-Traxx tape [from Toro] is tough and durable. It doesn’t break or have problems like some other tapes,” says Standage.
If there ever is a problem, it is Toro’s policy to be onsite within 24 hours, whether it’s the maker’s fault or not.
One more drip irrigation comment comes from the Naumann brothers (Brian and Mike) who farm the Naumann Ranch in Oxnard, CA. Food safety is one of their major concerns, as it is for all growers. They perform system maintenance routinely (a further example that skill and expertise are required for good results in anything related to water use). During the irrigation season, the lines are treated with chlorine to kill organic growth and keep everything running smoothly.
Recently, the Naumanns devised a way to reduce chlorine expenses by formulating their own calcium hypochlorite solution.
“Also, the precision molded emitter resists clogging,” comments Mike Naumann. “It delivers great uniformity and that results in even water distribution throughout the field [of mixed vegetables] and avoids puddles or runoff that harbors E. coli.”
The brothers believe that drip irrigation has not only reduced water use, but it has also improved yields and quality for their crops.
“We’re using half as much water with drip as we did with other irrigation methods we used in the past, and experience increase yields and uniformity at the same time.”
Some other interesting comment on water demand management programs comes from Scott Duff, Manager of Rural Development Policy at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
“Irrigated agriculture in Ontario is somewhat unique, although some of the concepts from the international and California experience are relevant,” says Duff. “When looking at demand management, it is important to consider the existing baseline condition relative to demand management. In Ontario, experience shows that most irrigators tend to under-irrigate for optimal crop production conditions. Attempts to achieve “˜water savings’ through traditional demand management techniques, such as improved scheduling and a shift from overhead to drip irrigation, typically result in increased water use.”
He continues: “These techniques are helpful at the farm level in terms of optimizing production but do not necessarily result in the desired “˜water savings’ for watersheds that may experience seasonal supply shortages. There are few-to-no communal water supply and delivery systems. Therefore, unlike regions with large irrigation schemes [or municipalities with communal supply and delivery], there are basically no savings to be found in the delivery mechanisms, because there are essentially none.”
The issue, then, can be definitely local, which is probably no surprise to most water professionals.
“For each watershed situation, the suite of demand management tools that may be effective is different, depending on the challenge of that watershed,” adds Duff. “For example, in some Ontario watersheds, in some growing seasons, there can be low water conditions resulting in supply challenges at certain times of the year. These are localized and seasonal.”
OMAFRA also publishes some guidelines for agricultural water users in “How to Prepare for Irrigation During Water Shortages” and is a constant resource for their clients.
The guidelines address such practical questions as:
- What more can I do if I have an irrigation system that works well? The issues of runoff from faster-than-needed irrigation and inspection for leaks are among the answers.
- If my neighbors and I all irrigate at the same there may not be enough water: What can I do? Understanding water rights and providing temporary storage for water are in the solutions suggested.
- What else can I do when water is scarce? Among suggestions are the development of an irrigation plan, a scheduling program, and an emergency plan to follow if you run out of water for some crops.
- What if I irrigate from a water well? Operate within the Permit to Take Water conditions and, shortly after pumping, monitor the static water level of any of your other wells or neighbor’s wells, if possible. Consider hiring a hydrogeologist to assess the effect of your water withdrawal on ground water and neighboring wells.
- I have a trickle irrigation system–do I need to do anything? Maintenance, scheduling, and monitoring the water supply remain critical.
