The recent dry years took a heavy toll on California’s water reserves, with more than ninety-seven percent of the state facing extreme drought conditions, and that includes Riverside County. As a result, residents are urged to use our water resources wisely and to preserve water wherever possible. Furthermore, Murrieta’s municipal water districts are collaborating on solutions to the region’s long-standing water crisis and ensuring a water-secure future. Please visit your local water district’s ebsite for your area’s latest drought news, water conservation tips, and water laws.
Residential And Business Rebates For Murrieta And Beyond
Residential and business rebates are available for lawn replacement, appliances, home fittings, and other items to help you save water and money. Visit your water district’s website for easy access to start saving immediately. See the website and phone numbers below for your Riverside County Water District.
Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District Phone: 951-674-3146
Western Municipal Water District Phone: 951-571-7100
Rancho California Phone: 951-296-6900
Eastern Municipal Water District Phone: 800-426-3693
Water Conservation Suggestions For Murrieta And Surrounding Areas
We have several water-saving tips for your residence or business:
- First, repair any leaks or faulty sprinklers.
- To decrease evaporation, water landscaping in the morning or evening.
- Replace your lawn with water-saving plants.
- Only wash full loads of dishes and laundry.
- Use low-flow showerheads and take shorter showers.
- Replace old toilets with toilets that use 1.28 gallons per flush.
- When replacing water heaters, buy one with the EnergyStar label
- Instead of washing down your driveway with a hose, use a broom or blower.
- Mulching and the latest low-flow watering technologies can help trees thrive.
Visit Our website for more wonderful water-saving strategies you can apply on a daily basis.
Water Conservation Efforts by the City of Murrieta
With our Governor declaring a State of Emergency for drought conditions this season, Murrieta and our Community Service Districts have taken preemptive measures to cut water expenses and usage. Staff accomplished this by upgrading antiquated irrigation technologies with Smart Irrigation Controllers, replacing overhead systems with drip irrigation, and replacing out-of-date landscaping with water-wise products.
We Use The Latest Smart Irrigation
Smart irrigation controllers automatically tailor water run times and schedules to match individual landscape needs. However, regardless of the previous technology’s efficiency, it didn’t account for changing meteorological conditions, notably rainfall and evapotranspiration rates. Evapotranspiration is the means by which water is carried from the land to the atmosphere via evaporation from soil and other surfaces, as well as transpiration from plants, which are heavily influenced by meteorological conditions. These systems use weather data and property conditions to calculate the amount of water they will apply. Weather-based smart controllers make use of a wide range of climatic factors.
Optimizing Our Landscaping To Maximize Efficiency
Some controllers use historical weather data in conjunction with local weather information. Other controllers use a subscription plan to download Evapotranspiration values every day. Soil moisture sensors, along with smart controllers, determine watering schedules based on the quantity of moisture in our soil as detected by the buried probes. Once programmed and installed, the systems often do not require any extra monitoring and can irrigate landscaping at optimum efficiency and the proper periods. Our Community Services District has already replaced over one hundred and fifty obsolete controllers with old technology and replaced them with Smart Irrigation Controllers over the past three years.
It All Starts Drip or Point-to-Point Irrigation
Drip irrigation, also known as point-to-point irrigation, regulates water to gradually drip onto plants, whether on the soil or root zone, using a system of pipes, valves, tubes, and emitters. Resulting in surface runoff and evaporation loss of almost no water, and soil fragments have numerous opportunities to collect and keep water for the plants. It also ensures that relatively few nutrients drain past the plant roots. Additionally, because drip irrigation directs water to the plants, little water is lost to weeds. As a result, the plant’s surface will remain drier soil between the plants, preventing weed seeds from germinating.
We Use Water Wise Plants
Plants that flourish in dry environments, including native plant materials that have always thrived in our local climate previous to human cultivation, are examples of water-wise plants. Replace non-native plants that require high water use with water-wise plants that drastically reduce water usage. For instance, recent changes included removing grass turf along parts of California Oaks Road and replacing it with shrubs that withstand the dry weather conditions. In addition, drip irrigation replaced overhead sprayer heads and replaced it with drip irrigation to create an aesthetically beautiful streetscape while lowering general maintenance and watering expenses.
Districts Are Making Changes To Landscape Lighting
Additionally, personnel is making changes to the Landscape Lighting Districts, which provide their own funding sources. Examples include drip irrigation conversions in the Landscape Lighting Districts for Murrieta Ranchos, Warm Springs, Western Pacific, Greer Ranch, Lincoln Ranch, Murrieta Oaks, and Mapleton.
Removing Old Turff Is All Part Of The Solution
Although a variety of concerns have been solved, more has to get addressed to mitigate the impact. Murrieta staff has recognized several projects that use a large amount of water and will result in saving even more water as time goes on and as additional financing becomes available. For example, among these projects are turf reductions parks and streetscapes within parks in the following locations:
Among these projects are turf reductions parks and streetscapes within parks in the following locations:
- Acacia Ranch Park
- Sycamore Park
- Jackson Avenue at the Colony Streetscape
- Rancho Acacia Park streetscape
- Nutmeg Street at Via de Gema Linda
- Saratoga Springs has a lot of slopes.
- Jackson Avenue at the Colony Streetscape
- Glen Arbor Park
- Valley Vista Park
- The rest of California Oaks Road’s streetscape
- Clinton Keith Road streetscape and slope Club View Drive
- Nutmeg Street
Report Any Broken Sprinklers
Irrigation Failure Report is a valuable resource, and the general public can help to reduce waste. The city of Murrieta encourages residents to report any broken irrigation systems to our Community Services Department.
Murrieta Plumbing takes great interest in providing the public information that will help save our precious resource water. We cover Murrieta, Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Menifee, Sun City, and Canyon Lake.
