Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1471378
WATER: The big question looming is "How brown do we go?" In past droughts, the lawns were the first to show the water restrictions. The Landscape Department walks a fine line between keeping plants and trees alive, and lawns green vs staying within the annual water-cost budget given by The Colony Board. Please be patient when the browning begins; the grass will return. The Colony is covered by two separate water districts, each with their own method of calculating a water budget and restrictions. In the map of The Colony, this division is seen by a red outline of the two districts. A large area south of Colony Drive and the entire golf course are in Rancho California Water District; the rest of The Colony is in Elsinore Valley District. Please note that the bills you receive as homeowners fall in the category of "residential." The Colony's bills fall under the category "commercial landscape," with different categories and restrictions. Rancho California Water District: Effective now, Stage 3b implements several mandatory outdoor water use restrictions including: • Irrigate lawns and landscape only between 6 pm and 9 am. Customers with weather-based irrigation controllers are exempt from this restriction. Note: Even though we use weather-based irrigation controllers and are exempt from this restriction, this could change. • Irrigation water may not leave the landscaped area. Anthony is exploring programs that are "cycle and soak," where irrigation water is applied in multiple short cycles, allowing water to soak in and not run off. If residents see water running down the gutters, they should try to determine if the sprinklers have just gone off and the water you see is coming from the top of hills. If water is coming out of the holes in the gutter in front of houses, it may mean the homeowner's own backyard water has been running. The Security Team is also tasked with watching for running water as they make their rounds, but if anyone sees spouting water anywhere, especially in the wildbelts, call the HOA Landscape Dept. immediately during normal work hours, or the Security Gate after hours and weekends. • Tune up irrigation systems by checking for and repairing leaks and damaged sprinklers. EC continues to monitor the irrigation system and make adjustments to water usage based on Board direction. They continue to make major and minor irrigation repairs. • Tiers 2 and 3 (inefficient tier) budgets will be decreased by 50 percent. This means by using the same amount of water as previously, penalties occur sooner. Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District: Their water supply is robust at this writing, but every customer is urged to use water efficiently, since the end of drought is uncertain. They ask that fountains using water that is not being recirculated be turned off. Our new fountain uses recirculated water (even though it is in Rancho Water District). FRONT YARD CONVERSIONS? Front yard turf removal rebates are being offered, and our Landscape Department has been investigating the cost-effectiveness of converting front yard turf to drip irrigation with drought-tolerant plants, similar to what we did with the greenbelts in order to qualify for the rebates. The Turf Replacement Programs offered by the water districts aim to combine turf removal, irrigation modification, and a rainwater retention feature. Rainwater retention is a storm water feature designed to capture rainfall in an "area" through infiltration or on-site storage for reuse. Eligible techniques include rain gardens, rock gardens, dry riverbeds, swales, berms, rain barrels or cisterns. We have learned that one "area" would be one water meter. One water meter here could be an entire street of homes. So far, we haven't figured out just which yard should contain the water retention system, or what that would involve. In addition, the application for rebates means the money to do the conversions is paid first, and the rebate comes after the work is done. Conversions aren't cheap and the money would need to come from reserves first. Note: There are some neighborhoods here which already have front yard planters on drip, and we have experimented with various types of planter drip irrigation in other selected neighborhoods. So far, we have found the expense required to do this throughout The Colony would not be cost-effective at this time, but this could change in the future. We are always looking for volunteers to join our Committee, so please give me a call if you are interested. LANDSCAPE ADVISORY By Jan Foster, 951-698-0170 COMMITTEE NEWS | THE COLONY NEWS | JULY 2022 | 11