30 July/August 2016 Landscape and Irrigation www.landscapeirrigation.com
IRRIGATION AND WATER MANAGEMENT
overdue. The other big one
for us is that mandate where
you have to turn off all the water
to city medians that have turf on
potable water.
Q: What percentage of your irrigation
is potable water versus reclaimed?
Collins: Statewide, we are 48 percent potable and 52
percent reclaimed. But here in Irvine, where we have been
pioneering the use of it – we actually helped build the first
reclamation center in 1968 – we're over 70 percent, with many
more online coming, conversions to reclaimed.
Q: Following up on what you said about the mandate to
turn off water to medians, how do you think that will
affect the overall appeal and/or your plant palette?
Collins: Well, the medians, for us, happen to be in one of our
most important areas in Newport Beach. So, there's no way we
Clint Collins, senior director, landscape operations, Irvine
Company Office Properties, was recently a special guest in
an "Outsmarting the Drought" webinar series, presented by
HydroPoint Data Systems. Collins spent 28 years with ValleyCrest
Landscape; is a member of the board of directors BOMA/O.C.;
and is responsible for the Irvine Company office portfolio,
consisting of more than 500 buildings, 30 million square feet of
landscape, 12 million square feet of turf and more than 50,000
trees. His insights from the "Outsmarting the Drought" series are
as follows:
Q: What has changed for you and the Irvine
Company since the governor's executive order
mandating water reduction?
Collins: Well, the biggest change is the mandatory water reduction
percentages on the potable water for each water agency. And that's
a really important distinction. All of these mandates only apply to
potable water. Prior to this, the water reductions have pretty much
been voluntary. But, unfortunately, not enough people took that
seriously, and they didn't make the changes that had been long
Dealing with Drought
Water Efficiency Best Practices
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