LANDSCAPING
Of those homes already built, some
builders have installed the allotted turf
in front yards, but TRI Pointe Homes
opted to use boulders and a variety of
drought-tolerant plants instead.
“We thought with all of the chang-
es that have happened over the last
several years over water usage, cus-
tomers are now more apt to make that
change as long as we put thought in
how it will look,” says Holly Auwinger,
TRI Pointe Homes’ director of sales
and marketing.
For streetscapes, medians and
public landscaping throughout Fol-
som Ranch, the city has selected a
varied plant palette of water-
efficient grasses, varieties suited to
the region’s Mediterranean climate
like olive trees, and California natives,
including large shade trees such as
sycamores and oaks.
Drip irrigation and stream rotating
nozzles will irrigate public spaces.
Rotating nozzles mimic drops of water
and are 30 percent more efficient
than old sprinkler systems that lose
vast amounts of water due to wind,
evaporation and runoff, says Zach
Perras, Folsom’s municipal landscape
services manager.
To maximize efficiency, Folsom
began using centralized irrigation
controllers in 2009 that can detect
leaks down to the gallon with the
capability to remotely shut off the
leaking valve, says Perras. In the past,
fixes required a manual dispatch to
a leak’s location, and in some cases,
that could take up to a week.
Out with the old
The most important thing to remem-
ber, says Saare-Edmonds, is the vast
majority of the landscape in Califor-
nia is already built. Old technology
and sprawling lawns aren’t part of
MWELO’s mandate, but they are
obvious targets for improving
water efficiency.
“Turf grass in Sacramento needs
about 4 feet of water per year on top
of normal rainfall to keep it green,”
says William Granger, City of Sacra-
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comstocksmag.com | May 2020
In Folsom Ranch, the city landscaped
the public areas with water-efficient
grasses and trees native to California.
mento’s water conservation admin-
istrator.
In response, rebate programs to
replace turf and update irrigation
controllers from preset time-based
models to high-tech versions that ir-
rigate based on local weather and soil
conditions are common throughout
California for residential and com-
mercial projects.
Roseville’s weather-based con-
troller rebate of up to $150 has been
one of its most popular programs,
providing nearly $150,000 in residen-
tial customer rebates since November
2016, and nearly 2 million square feet
of turf has been removed through its
Cash for Grass program since 2008.
Replacing that with drought-tolerant
plants and a drip system has saved
more than 67 million gallons of water
since 2008, says Bobby Alvarez,
Roseville’s water conservation
administrator.
Similarly, the City of Sacramento’s
River-Friendly Landscape Program has
replaced 562,000 square feet of turf
since 2014, with the highest rebate in
the region at $1.50 per square foot. This
year, the city will spend about $500,000
on rebates through the program —
which offers turf replacement, irri-
gation efficiency upgrades and smart
controller rebates — roughly a third of
its water conservation budget.
Education and outreach pro-
grams are heavily promoted to drive
water efficiency and MWELO compli-
ance. Roseville offers workshops on
MWELO for property managers and
contractors and offers year-round
landscaping workshops for residents.
Folsom offers similar programming
for residents, including eco-friendly
landscape education — one which
Balics presented in 2019 — and
Water Wise House Calls, free
in-person assessments of residents’
water use.
There’s no shortage of online
water-wise guidance, lists of low-
water plants, free water-efficient
landscape templates and apps,
like Dropcountr, used in Folsom,
which monitors personal water use
and sends leak alerts in real time.
Resources help bridge the gap in
education, so those who aren’t aware
of MWELO — often homeowners who
want to renovate — are informed
of best practices that align with the
water efficient ordinance.