Five-year program designed to help participants conserve, reduce water costs
Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA) is offering a free customized program to help large landscape customers improve water use efficiency and reduce irrigation costs.
The Water Use Efficiency Program for Large Landscape Customers starts with an on-site assessment of a customer’s landscaping and irrigation equipment, and that assessment produces recommended actions the customer can take — complete with an analysis of costs and benefits — to improve irrigation efficiency.
“Every site has been different so far,” says Landscape Architect Kriss Keogh of the k2 group, who performs the assessments on behalf of CLWA.
Keogh, a landscape architect and construction professional with 25 years of local experience, said the program benefits large landscape customers, such as homeowners associations and landscape maintenance districts, especially considering how much irrigation technology has changed.
“Some landscapes have been in place since the 1960s,” Keogh said. “The technology now is way different even from five years ago.”
The program is part of CLWA’s efforts to meet the state’s goal of a 20 percent per capita reduction in water use by 2020, and to foster a public ethic of efficient water use. As an additional incentive, CLWA offers participants a $300 rebate for every net acre-foot of water saved. Last year, 19 customers participated, and Keogh said the plan this year is to add 23 more.
When Keogh visits a customer, he’ll study everything from controllers to sprinkler heads, age and condition of equipment, the type of landscaping and even what’s underneath it.
“‘We’re looking at the soil profiles as well as the irrigation equipment,” he said, adding that proper fertilization will also be considered. “The healthier the plant, the less water it needs.”
Keogh analyzes each property, its water usage history and projected future costs. Recommendations can include things like new, high-tech irrigation controllers, or perhaps replacing some vegetation with hardier plantings that are better suited to the climate.
The assessment is just the beginning of a five-year program that includes annual reports to track progress for the customer. “We’re creating a partnership,” Keogh said. “I’m checking with the customer’s landscape contractor and making sure that everything they have put into the ground is working.”
Keogh said the customer’s return on investment in new landscaping or equipment should be realized within two years. “The larger the landscape, the greater the potential.”
More information on the Water Use Efficiency Program for Large Landscape Customers is available by calling Kriss Keogh at 661-510-1238.
The Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA) is the Santa Clarita Valley’s public water wholesaler. CLWA operates two treatment plants, two pump stations, two storage facilities, and over 17 miles of transmission pipelines. Our mission is to provide reliable, quality water at a reasonable cost to the Santa Clarita Valley. www.clwa.org. For more information, please contact: Dirk Marks, Water Resources Manager with Castaic Lake Water Agency at dmarks@clwa.org.