VV Water District offers landscape water efficiency course

By SYDNEE ANDERSON

The Progress

The Virgin Valley Water District held a certification course recently to inform community members of sustainable landscaping and irrigation water conservation practices. In the 20 hour course, people learned methods of sustainable landscaping, healthy soils, irrigation systems, maintenance and auditing, and how that relates to landscaping in the Virgin Valley.

The Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper (QWEL) course, was developed by Sonoma County Water Agency in 2007 and has been adopted by over 20 professional certifying organizations throughout the US and Canada. It has received national recognition from the U.S. EPA WaterSense program receiving yearly awards since 2014. It’s aim is to present an affordable proactive local approach to reducing landscape water demand.

“The Water District is hoping to accomplish another step in our goal to achieve 85 gallons per capita per day in water conservation,” said VVWD general manager Kevin Brown. “Currently we’re using about 112 gallons per capita per day and our goal is to hit 85 gallons per capita per day by 2035, so this is one of those tools that we have available to help us achieve that goal.”

The course participants were made up of local landscapers, and community members each with unique reasons for taking the course. QWEL certified landscaper can be added to a list of certified professionals available at VVWD and through the QWEL website.

“Generally there’s not a lot of knowledge in home owners of the specifics of water issues here in Mesquite,” said class participant Mike Carter, a local resident. “I’m from Denver and I’ve been here for three years. Water situations are way different here, so when landscapers come in and set water times or have situations, the homeowners are generally pretty ignorant. This gives me insight into what they’re doing and helps me appreciate them more!”

Andrea Meckley, a local horticulturist, also took the class. “The information and the data that they’ve provided in this class is information that I’m going to use out in the field and hopefully going to pass it on to other people that are interested that I run into,” Meckley said.

The course was run by Natalie Anderson, VVWD conservation specialist. “The district is so excited to offer this certification program in our area,” Anderson said. “There has been nothing like it available, and we have worked really hard to adopt the program and tailor it to the Virgin Valley, so our local landscapers can have the best information as they work in our community.”

Anderson said that it was the district’s aim to make the program accessible to landscapers, homeowners, HOA’s and businesses so they would be equipped to make the best choices for sustainability and conservation.

“With landscape water accounting for 75-90% of total residential water used in the Virgin Valley, a focus on irrigation conservation is critical to meeting our goals,” Anderson said. “We believe that education is key, and this program will help us make our goals reality. We appreciate the community members who are supporting this course and our conservation efforts throughout the valley.”

For more information about these courses, contact Anderson at 702-346-5731.