The right plants, the right equipment and the right schedule can not only help you have a beautiful garden, but will help you save water and money as well.

Sign up for one or all three of these free workshops, held at the Irvine Ranch Water District offices at 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine.

Workshops are:

1. The Right Plants – Thursday, March 5, 6-8 p.m. How to choose the right plant types for your landscape.

2. The Right Equipment – Wednesday, March 18, 6-8 p.m. Selecting the most productive and water-efficient tools for your garden.

3. The Right Schedule – Wednesday, April 22, 6-8 p.m. Choosing the right watering schedule for your plants.

A light dinner will be provided and there will be an unsupervised movie showing for children.

Signing up for the workshops is as easy as going to www.irwd.com/events.

Attention young artists in the Irvine Ranch Water District service area – we are inviting students in kindergarten through fifth grade to participate in the annual “Water is Life” poster contest.

In addition, students in grades sixth through 12 have the opportunity to enter the Water Awareness Photography and Digital Arts Contest.

The deadline for kindergarten through fifth grade students to enter their art work is Thursday, March 19. Students participating through the Irvine Unified School District may send their completed posters to Brad Van Patten’s office at the District office on Barranca Parkway.

Contest rules include:

• Use 12 X 18 white paper. Newsprint and larger sizes will not be accepted.
• Students must leave a one inch white border on all four sides.
• Crayons, markers, ink, poster paint, pastels, chalk, water color or cut paper or fabric may be used. Brighter colors photograph best.
• Horizontal (landscape) format only.
• Include a brief water message (be sure to check spelling!)
• Original art work only – no copyrighted material. Be creative!
• Do not put student’s name on the front of the poster.
• Back of poster must have an entry form with student’s information and signed parental release.

Students entering the “Water is Life” poster contest could have their art work published in the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s 2016 calendar.

The deadline for sixth through 12^th grade students to enter the photography and digital arts contest is Friday, April 3. Some rules include:

• All files must be submitted in JPG, PNG, or PDF format and should be no larger than 10 megabytes in size.
• Photographs and digital art work should be medium to high resolution (300 dots per inch or higher.)
• Computer-generated art work can be created using Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator, Microsoft Publisher/PowerPoint, or any other graphics program.
• Only original art work will be accepted. Submissions must not contain images created by anyone other than the student.
• Entries must be emailed to digitalarts@mwdoc.com, or post entries to the Municipal Water District of Orange County facebook page. In the email subject line, type: Digital Arts Contest.
• In the body of the email, include: student’s name; grade level; school name; teacher’s name; home phone number and email address.
• Include two-three sentences explaining how the art work/photograph was created.

Please visit our website for contest entry forms and more information.

Have you ever wondered how water gets to your tap, or what happens after it goes down the drain? Learn the answers by attending Irvine Ranch Water District’s ever-popular Water Awareness Tours.

These free tours are offered to those who work or live within the IRWD service boundaries.

Tours are scheduled for Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30. The tours begin promptly at 9 a.m. and conclude approximately at 1 p.m. Included in the itinerary is a walk through the expanded Michelson Water Recycling Plant, a bus trip to the San Joaquin Reservoir and lunch and a tour of the San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary.

Visitors will gain valuable information about the water system, sewage treatment, recycled water use and conservation tips. The tours fill up quickly and are first-come, first-served based on the date we receive your reservation. We are unable to accommodate children less than 16 years of age.

A hot bath after a long work out. A cold glass of water on a hot summer day. Watching your kids run through the sprinklers. An afternoon dip in the pool. Happy plants. Delicious vegetables from your garden.

We all love water for different reasons. And we use it from sun up to sun down.

So why not be more efficient with this precious resource?

In honor of Valentine’s Day this year, show your love of water by joining Professor Wright and Roger in using water the RightScape way: The Right Plants, The Right Schedule and The Right Equipment.

RightScape makes it easy to be water efficient. Our website gives you garden inspiration with drought resistant plants, tips on finding and fixing leaks and many other tools to make sure you’re using water wisely.

We can all do one more thing to save water this year. Visit our Facebook page or Tweet us on Twitter (@irwdnews) and tell us why you love water, with hashtag #RightScape.

Professor Wright and Roger can’t wait to hear your story!

For more info, visit our RightScape site.