By Misty DUPLESSIS

On Saturday, the Crescenta Valley Water District hosted a Smart Garden workshop, sponsored by WaterWise Consulting, Inc.

The Smart Garden workshop occurs twice a year at the CVWD Glenwood plant and brings in visitors from the Crescenta Valley and Sunland-Tujunga areas as well as Glendale.

During the three-hour class, WaterWise Water Conservation Specialist Kelly Takai talked about garden design concepts as well as irrigation systems. Takai provided useful tools on where to find resources on how to develop landscapes, including the use of drought tolerant plants. Information was also given on rebates currently available for those who replace their current lawns.

Attendees were taught that landscape designs can be water efficient as well as aesthetically beautiful, and as unique as can be envisioned.

Information was given on how and when was best water gardens, and some different types of irrigation systems was also shared with the water conscious visitors.

The water conservation company WaterWise Consulting has been around for over 10 years and is dedicated to helping the community.

“We do a lot of water audit and water survey. We do inspections of residential water use and how efficient the dishwashers, faucets and landscape are working,” said WaterWise conservationist Hector Silva, adding that the classes they provide to homeowners and professionals are just some of the services offered to educate the public.

With about 20 people in attendance, including students looking to learn more about the irrigation systems, CVWD Water Conservation Specialist Natalie Bellissimo said the turnout was great.

“There were a lot of good questions asked. It was really a good class put on by WaterWise Consulting,” said Bellissimo.

At the end of the class, attendees walked away with a fundamental knowledge of gardening from conception to maintenance.

Those interested in learning more about water conservation can visit waterwise-consulting.com or cvwd.com.

The CVWD will be teaming up with the County of Los Angeles Dept. of Public Works to host a free Smart Gardening compost workshop on Nov. 11.

Rebates Offered for Conservation

Foothill Municipal Water District (FMWD) continues to provide rebates for high efficiency toilets, turf removal and rain barrels.

During the previous fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012, $38,834 in rebates were provided to local residents to support the effort to be more independent of imported water supplies.

The following rebates are being offered to customers within the service area.

Residential High-Efficiency Toilets – Customers that replace older high water use toilets with high-efficiency toilets can receive a $50 rebate.  Only Water-Sense qualified high-efficiency toilets with a capacity of 1.28 gallons per flush or less qualify for rebates.  (Check with your water provider for additional rebate dollars on selected items.)

Turf Removal Program – Foothill area residents can receive up to $800 in rebates for removing their thirsty lawns and replacing with California Friendly plants, drought tolerant plant, mulch or pervious hardscape.

Rain Barrels – Customers can receive 50% of the cost of a rain barrel rebate up to $100 per rain barrel for up to a maximum of 8 barrels by capturing stormwater and using it to irrigate landscape.

In addition to the rebates above, residential customers can receive the following rebates through Metropolitan Water District of Southern California:

High-Efficiency Clothes Washers – A rebate of up to $85 for one washer is being offered.  Washers must have a water factor of 4.0 or less.

Weather-based Irrigation Controller – A rebate of $80 for less than 1 acre and $25 per station for more than 1 acre of irrigation is being offered.

Rotating Sprinkler Nozzles – Pop-up spray head nozzles can be replaced with these low-precipitation rate nozzles to help reduce run-off and irrigate more efficiently.  The rebate for nozzles is $4 per nozzle with a minimum of 15 per application.

Visit the FMWD website at http://fmwd.com/Conservation.aspx for information on how to apply for rebates.

Foothill area commercial and industrial customers can receive rebates on water conservation devices as well. As a member agency of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Foothill’s customers are eligible for the Save-a-Buck Program.  For more information, go to http://www.mwdsaveabuck.com.

Foothill Municipal Water District provides imported water to Crescenta Valley Water District and La Cañada Irrigation District among other associations.

More information can be found on the district’s website at www.fmwd.com.

  MISTY DUPLESSIS