Item 28 - Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan

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Santa Ana 2020 Urban Water Management Plan arcadis.com 9-13 and retrofit their irrigation systems to high efficiency equipment, such as drip, or remove it entirely, and are encouraged to utilize smart irrigation timers. Furthermore, projects are required to include a stormwater capture feature, such as a rain garden or dry stream bed, and have a minimum of three plants per 100 square feet to increase plant density and promote healthy soils. These projects save water and also reduce dry and wet weather runoff, increase urban biomass, and sequester more carbon than turf landscapes. Smart Timer Rebate Program Smart Timers are irrigation clocks that are either weather-based irrigation controllers (WBICs) or soil moisture sensor systems. WBICs adjust automatically to reflect changes in local weather and site-specific landscape needs, such as soil type, slopes, and plant material. When WBICs are programmed properly, turf and plants receive the proper amount of water throughout the year. During the fall months, when property owners and landscape professionals often overwater, Smart Timers can save significant amounts of water. Rotating Nozzles Rebate Program The Rotating Nozzle Rebate Program provides incentives to residential and commercial properties for the replacement of high-precipitation rate spray nozzles with low-precipitation rate multi-stream, multi-trajectory rotating nozzles. The rebate offered through this Program aims to offset the cost of the device and installation. Socal Water$mart Rebate Program for Landscape The City also offers financial incentives under the SoCal Water$mart Rebate Program for a variety of water efficient landscape devices, such as Central Computer Irrigation Controllers, large rotary nozzles, and in-stem flow regulators. Landscape Training Classes The California Friendly and Native Landscape Training and the Turf Removal and Garden Transformation Workshops provide education to residential homeowners, property managers, and professional landscape contractors on a variety of landscape water efficiency practices that they can employ and use to help design a beautiful garden using California Friendly and native plant landscaping principles. The California Friendly and Native Landscape Class demonstrates how to: implement storm water capture features in the landscape; create a living soil sponge that holds water; treat rainwater by a resource; select and arrange plants to maximize biodiversity and minimize water use; and control irrigation to minimize water waste, runoff and non-point source pollution. The Turf Removal and Garden Transformation Workshop teaches participants how to transform thirsty turfgrass into a beautiful, climate-appropriate water efficient garden. This class teaches how to: evaluate the landscape’s potential; plan for garden transformation; identify the type of turfgrass in the yard; remove grass without chemicals; build healthy, living soils; select climate-appropriate plants that minimize water use and maximize beauty and biodiversity; and implement a maintenance schedule to maintain the garden.