Aqua Savio Landscape Trainings Free to Certified Professional Landscapers

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) has launched a free training program, called Agua Savio, aimed at educating landscape professionals on how to design, install, and maintain water-efficient landscapes. 

“Landscape contractors are under more pressure than ever before from their commercial and residential customers to produce landscapes that use less water to lower monthly bills, reduce surcharges or fees, and help our community meet our conservation goals,” says Katherine Yuhas, water conservation officer for ABCWUA. Yuhas says this training gives contractors the tools they need to determine a landscape’s water needs, reduce water use, and help customers take advantage of rebates.

“For the customer, knowing that the contractor they select is specifically trained in irrigation efficiency for our area and climate assures they are working with someone who is up-to-date on the most efficient ways to manage existing landscape water needs.”

Classes are conducted in English and Spanish, and the two-hour course is free to any interested landscape contractor. Contractors can schedule courses at their landscaping facility or take advantage of already-scheduled courses. Upon completion, each participant will receive a certificate to indicate they have been trained in irrigation efficiency. 

The Aqua Savio course content includes:

Any landscape contractor interested in participating in Agua Savio is encouraged to call 888-1722 or visit www.abcwua.org.

“We hope all landscape contractors will complete this course, because we are confident it will be beneficial to their staff and customers,” Yuhas says.

Here’s a list of landscape firms that have already completed the training:

Anything Sprinklers, located at 11920 Menaul Blvd. NE
Lawn Rangers, located at 4915 Paseo del Norte NE
Buildology, located at 3601 Pan American Freeway NE
Heads Up Landscaping, located at 725 Second Street NW
Nique’Scapes, located at 1113 Edith Blvd. NE

[to top]

	Rio Rancho Elementary School students on a nature walk at Willow Creek Open Space in the Rio Rancho bosque
	Rio Rancho Elementary School students measure water level in a monitor well at the bosque
	Rio Rancho Elementary School students prepare to throw mud balls made with native grass seeds to help reseed the area

RiverXchange Teaches Students about River Ecosystems

RiverXchange is a one-of-a-kind outreach project developed in New Mexico in 2008 to provide local fourth and fifth grade students and their teachers with an opportunity for in-depth study of water resource issues.

This spring the project offered 14 classes—seven in Albuquerque and seven in Rio Rancho. Classes explored major water issues through a semester-long curriculum that included a field trip to the Rio Grande river, hands-on activities from Project WET and New Mexico’s Bosque Education Guide, and opportunities for guest speakers to visit the classroom. Each class partnered with a fourth or fifth grade class in another state, and together, students learned about their local river ecosystems and posted what they learned (text, photos, videos) on shared private wiki Web sites. This enabled them to learn about similar water resource issues in a distant watershed and develop a passion to protect their own water resources.

The hands-on, inquiry-based curriculum incorporated Big Water Questions, which were developed through work with children’s water festivals. The questions help students build a conceptual understanding of watersheds, water in our society, and the river ecosystem. Guest speakers offered activities about drinking water, wastewater, water quality, stormwater, water conservation, watershed, and agriculture. Classes took a field trip to the Rio Grande where they participated in a service learning project. Throughout the semester, students wrote about their experiences to their pen pals and commented on each other’s postings. This two-way communication provided a rich and exciting learning experience.

Willow Creek Open Space in Rio Rancho, and Candelaria Farms in Albuquerque, served as field trip locations. Rio Rancho Water Conservation Office, Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful, and City of Albuquerque Open Space provided docents who led the students through this learning experience. For many students, this was the first time they had ever visited the Rio Grande river or bosque.

Funding was provided by the Middle Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team, Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority, PNM, Lockheed Martin/Sandia National Laboratories, and many in-kind sponsors. The New Mexico Water Conservation Alliance continued as the project’s fiscal agent.

RiverXchange will continue in 2010-2011 in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe County and is free of charge to New Mexico teachers. Technical support is also free to partner teachers. 

RiverXchange was created and coordinated by Experiential EE, LLC. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.waterfestnm.com, or contact Katie Babuska at 505-975-0036 or katie@experientialee.com.

[to top]

	Catwalk tour of new activated sludge wastewater treatment facility in Las Cruces

New Mexico Water Conservation Alliance Sponsors Trip to Las Cruces

On May 13, 2010, five members of the New Mexico Water Conservation Alliance (NMWCA) took a road trip to Las Cruces to meet and collaborate with that southern city’s conservation personnel. The City of Las Cruces Water Conservation Office hosted the meeting and offered a tour of their new 1 million gallons-per-day wastewater treatment plant. The high quality water produced by the plant will be used for irrigating large areas around Las Cruces.

The Las Cruces Office thoughtfully provided lunch and transportation to and from the field trip and tour.

Alice Darelik (center) of PCR Resources in front of the plant’s head works

[to top]

Santa Fe Government Hosts Events on Water and Energy

The City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County recently hosted two successful events: The Water and Energy Summit 2010 and the Pre-Conference Expo. The Summit was a professional conference bringing together organizations, individuals and agencies to explore and examine the connection between water and energy. Presentations covered water and energy conservation, rainwater harvesting, irrigation efficiency, and green building practices.

Keynote speakers included Valerie Strassberg and Brad Lancaster. Strassberg, who is the Water Energy Project Director of Natures Voice Our Choice, gave a presentation titled “How Much Carbon Does Your Water Emit?” She addressed the direct link between water and energy and how the U.S. approach to water-energy management compares to that of the international movement. She also described the water-energy link in day-to-day activities. 

The second day was kicked off by Lancaster, who is a rainwater harvesting advocate and author of the book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond. In his inspiring presentation, he shared eight universal principals of water harvesting and simple strategies that turn water scarcity into water abundance. He gave several examples of reducing water use and the costs of living and energy consumption.

The highlight of the summit was the walking tour of the Santa Fe Rail Yard Rainwater Harvesting Project with Richard Jennings of Earthwrights Designs in Santa Fe. Jennings showcased the numerous conveyance systems that irrigate the park and common areas using all harvested rainwater.

The event also included a two-day American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) accreditation course designed for people who want to pursue a career in rainwater management.

These two events motivated participants to reduce their water and energy use. Water conservation program managers for the city and county thought the event was successful and said they hope to see a second annual Water Energy Summit take place.

[to top]

NMWCA Member Participates in Jordanian Water Conservation Efforts (Part 1)

The Kingdom of Jordan is facing a water crisis. According to the United Nations, Jordan is one of the most water-insecure countries in the world, with average Jordanians consuming five times less water than their European counterparts due to the lack of supply. Together Jordan’s Ministry of Water and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have called upon conservation experts worldwide to assist in developing an effective water resource plan. Over a decade ago, they initiated the program ”Instituting Water Demand Management in Jordan” (IDARA) to transform these management strategies and concepts into sustainable solutions. The project received worldwide recognition in Paris at the Global Water Summit 2010 and won the Water Efficiency Project of the Year.

In 2008, IDARA project members contracted with Water Management Inc. (WMI), an Alexandria, Virginia-based company, to complete a series of water audits over a broad range of consumer categories that included hotels, schools, government offices, and mosques. The project was divided into two phases, and the first was completed in 2009.

The second phase was launched at the beginning of 2010. Consultants Lonnie Burke and John Sims traveled to Jordan for three weeks to collect the necessary data to determine water use patterns and identify water saving opportunities. Other members of their team, Matthew Ridout and Jessica Matthews, compiled detailed reports presenting the end-use analysis results for the facilities. Team member Russ Horner also traveled abroad to teach a series of water conservation courses to members of the Ministry of Water and USAID.

During the Jordan audits, Ridout, Sims, and Burke, who is a member of the New Mexico Water Conservation Alliance (NMWCA), were confronted with water distribution systems unlike those in the U.S. They found that facilities were equipped with roof top water storage tanks that are replenished with water once a week by municipal water agencies in accordance with overall square footage. However, private sources delivered water by truck for consumers who ran out before the week was up. Because the Jordanian distribution system water is not safe to drink, people get their drinking water from bottled sources, unless a facility has a reverse osmosis (RO) filtration system.

	Jordanian toilet

Week one: Amman
The first week of Burke and Sims’ trip was spent in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Amman is a fascinating city of contrasts a unique blend of old and new, ideally situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley. Due to the city’s modern-day prosperity and temperate climate, almost half of Jordan’s population is concentrated in the Amman area. The team of consultants was responsible for auditing public and private high schools, which are typically segregated by gender. They also audited three coed Universities. All educational facilities in Amman have RO units that produce drinking water, and several of the universities had their own wells and sell water to surrounding communities.
 
Prior to each site tour, the team was served Turkish coffee, tea, and pastries. This custom offered the opportunity for Burke and Sims to ask questions about such things as the square meter of the building, census data, and the amount of water purchased from private vendors, which helped them to better understand where the greatest amount of water was being used.

Recycled water for irrigation

Week two: Aqaba
On week two, Burke and Sims were in Aqaba, a resort town bordering the Red Sea. It lies about 227 miles from Amman and is the only Jordanian port with direct access to the Red Sea. It’s also the only major city in Jordon to have water 24/7, thanks to a reliable aquifer. Five five-star resorts were audited, along with seven government office buildings. One resort was using over 500 gallons of water, per guest, per day. (Average use in U.S. is 175 gallons.) The elaborate landscapes, water features, and pools in these resorts accounted for more than 25 percent of total water usage.

Large water feature in five star hotel	A true wet bar in an Aqaba Hotel

Week three: Irbid
During week three, the team traveled to Irbid to audit several government offices. Irbid, located in the northern most point of Jordan, has the second largest metropolitan population in the kingdom. Burke and Sims found that the government offices were the lowest water consumers out of all the sites visited throughout their trip, even though some government facilities had up to 2000 visitors per day.

(See the fall issue of Conservation Current for Part 2 of this article.)

You are visitor number