Up to 60 percent of your home’s total water usage is used outdoors. This year, save money and water by turning your yard into a CALscape, a California Appropriate Landscape, because it’s the right thing to do for California.

A recent study of Irvine Ranch Water District single-family customer water use revealed:

• 20% of a household’s total water use is attributed to over-watering
• Up to 60% of your home’s total water usage is used outdoors

You can be on your way to saving money and water by turning your water-thirsty landscape into a water-efficient CALscape. Reducing your outdoor water use starts with the right plants, schedule, and equipment.

The Right Plants: A California appropriate landscape starts with the right plants that are perfectly suited for our mild winters and warm, dry summers. They’re low maintenance, use little water and don’t need soil preparation or fertilizing. Visit www.irwd.com/calscape to view garden tours, garden galleries, a searchable plant database, and a garden resources section.

The Right Schedule: Keep your plants hydrated and healthy using the right amount of water with a CALscape Watering Schedule, available on our website (and on the back of this newsletter).

The Right Equipment: Water your garden efficiently and get the most from every drop of water with water-efficient equipment, such as rotating nozzles. We offer resources and rebates to help you water efficiently and effectively.

To help you transform your landscape into a CALscape, www.irwd.com/calscape offers resources, such as:

• Garden Galleries
• Searchable Plant Database
• Planting Guide
• Efficient Watering Schedule
• Rebates on Sprinklers, Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers, Rain Barrels and more.

IRWD will continue to provide uninterrupted service during temporary water supply outages due to MWD water supply facility maintenance projects or projected drought conditions.

In January 2014, IRWD customers will see the benefit of a proactive water supply diversification program in place at the Irvine Ranch Water District for over 20 years. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) will embark on an important water supply maintenance and refurbishment program in early 2014 that is expected to cause temporary water supply issues in some southern California areas. Due to careful planning and a growing non-reliance on water from MWD, IRWD customers will continue to receive uninterrupted water service.

IRWD drinking water comes from two primary sources: local groundwater and imported water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Since 1990, IRWD has worked hard to develop alternative water supply sources to reduce reliance on costly imported water supplies. As a result, IRWD reliance on imported water has dropped dramatically and our customers have a high level of water supply reliability, all while receiving the lowest water rates in Orange County.

While by no means an exhaustive list, here is a snapshot of proactive programs and projects that are working to support water supply reliability and cost efficiencies for our customers:

If you were able to see a map of the vast network of pipes and lines in the Irvine Ranch Water District’s service area, it would resemble a bowl of brightly colored spaghetti. The pipes and lines provide drinking water, recycled water for irrigation and other uses and other pipes carry the wastewater away.

The lines and pipes are designed for long service and can be costly or disruptive to repair and replace them.          IRWD water lines can range in size from 60 inches to large supply mains and down to 4 inches to serve homes on a residential street.

Throughout the distribution system, pressures, volu8mes and site conditions can vary greatly, but each element must be designed for a maximum use scenario, such as the heavy demands during the summer irrigation season or for the large volumes needed to fight a fire. Because of these different applications, pipe construction is important to the engineers who design the system.

Many factors can affect the service time of a pipe, depending on the material it is made from – iron, cement, plastic or steel. Are the pipes prone to corrosion, or are the lines and their joints able to stand under earth movement, such as earthquakes, landslides, and traffic vibration.

Other factors include expansion and contraction due to temperature changes, how they are joined together and large variations in the volumes and pressure of the water. Additionally, the pipe must bear the weight of the material under which it is buried.

A construction accident can damage a pipe, either immediately or later, when it develops corrosion at the point of impact. IRWD has a database of the location, age and material of all lines and pipes in the distribution system. Pipes and valves are routinely inspected and tested. Our Leak Detection crews are somewhere in the service area daily checking for leaks. Whenever there is a leak, or pipe failure, the cause is carefully analyzed while repairs are made.

More information about IRWD infrastructure is available on our website.

If you are interested in creating a water-efficient yard, Irvine Ranch Water District has scheduled workshops to help you get started. The first workshop is January 29, beginning at 6 p.m. at the IRWD headquarters office, 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine in the multi-purpose room.

Other dates for the workshop are March 7 and March 21.

Experts will be on hand to inform you about a California Appropriate Landscape. Signing up for the workshop is easy – just send an email to calscape@irwd.com. Include your name, the number of attendees and which date you would like to attend.

Please visit the IRWD website to learn more about CALscape, the correct plants, equipment and watering schedules.