A Story of Rebates, Smarter Water Use and 34% Water Savings

With all of the other issues that board members and managers wrestle with day to day, landscaping may not be at the top of their minds. But the cost of inefficiencies can add up. A typical community association uses nearly double the amount of water needed to maintain a healthy landscape. Often, boards and managers don’t know how much water they are using. In response to California’s ongoing drought, the community of Westaire in Martinez,… Read more »


Bringing You the Latest Water-Saving Ideas By the Hundreds

ValleyCrest is teaming up with Hunter to give away 100 Hunter® Wireless Rain-Clik™ rain sensors, one a day for 100 days. Part of the ValleyCrestTakesOn.com “100 days, 100 ways” campaign, the drawing is designed to call attention to the national water crisis and the strategies and technologies that could help avert it. (Like, say, 100 fewer people running their sprinklers in the rain.) Winners will be announced here starting August 1st. But check… Read more »


Saving With Smart Irrigation Controllers

Have you taken advantage of irrigation rebates available through your local water District? This is a great way to put money back into your budget. Conventional controllers require users to manually enter desired watering days and watering durations. This is often inefficient and results in either overwatering or underwatering your plants and turf. Smart controllers, also known as weather-based controllers or “et-based” controllers, adjust their irrigation schedules automatically based on daily weather changes and… Read more »


Landscape Irrigation – Saving Water Isn’t Complicated.

Landscape irrigation water management does not have to be complicated. The majority of irrigation systems I evaluate have lots of room for improvement.  Often the initial improvements can be made, without costing much.  As a result, the return on the investment can be achieved quickly. It’s similar to beginning golf. At first breaking 100 is relatively easy and doesn’t take much of a time investment.  As scores get lower and lower, it takes more to… Read more »