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In 1990, the County Water Agency, in conjunction with local water
purveyors, created a regional water efficiency program. The purpose
of the program is to reduce water demand throughout the County to
the most efficient levels possible. Water Agency staff work with
local water purveyors and agricultural irrigation agencies to develop
specific programs to help their customers/irrigators use water efficiently.
Many of the Water Agency's program elements were developed in response
to state and federal regulations for water use efficiency.
Additional Activities:
- The Water Agency is working closely with Green Team members
from County Parks to reduce
water use, as parks tend to have higher water use than other County
facilities.
- The Water Agency also provides financial support to the local
Cachuma Resource Conservation District's (RCD) Irrigation Water
Management Program. Irrigation experts from this program have
conducted irrigation evaluations at all County Parks in recent
years, and recommended steps to reduce water use and resulting
bills. Managers of the County Courthouse Sunken Gardens in downtown
Santa Barbara are currently working with the Cachuma RCD to identify
modifications or replacements to the irrigation system that will
reduce water use, while maintaining the lush, green landscaping.
For more information about the Water Agency check out their Web
site at http://www.countyofsb.org/pwd/water/
Several years ago, the Parks Department
conducted an irrigation evaluation in the Santa Barbara County Courthouse
Sunken Garden. As a result of the pilot program, County Parks replaced
the majority of the antiquated, small, brass sprinkler heads with
more efficient, larger (and fewer) popup heads with controllable
flow and adjustable pattern dispersion. The Courthouse irrigation
system retrofit is almost complete, with only one section that remains
to be done. An estimated 40% to 50% less water is used for irrigating
the Courthouse lawn due to more efficient irrigation head technology,
head placement, and better application control using the new controller.
The retrofit of the last section of the lawn will be completed in
the fall of 2002.
New
irrigation stations at the Courthouse Sunken Garden
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