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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPipeline 04 - Fall 2025T H E O TAY WATER DISTRICT • P R OUDLY SERVING E A ST C OUNT Y AND TH E S OUTH B A Y SINC E 1956 A NE W SLET TE R FOR CUSTOMERS OF T HE OTAY WATER DISTRICT FALL 2025 Dedicated to Community Service FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OTAY WATER DISTRICT CALL (619) 670-2222 OR GO TO OTAYWATER.GOV The Pipeline Newsletter is published quartely by the Otay Water District and can also be found online at otaywater.gov. Copywright ©2021 Otay Water District.All rights reserved. WaterSmart Landscape Built for Retirement Simplicity Earns District Award Otay Water District is proud to have recognized Chula Vista residents Catherine and David Spence as this year’s “Best in District” title winners in the WaterSmart Landscape Contest. They transformed their side yard into a low-maintenance garden to fit their dynamic lifestyle after retirement. Before starting their project, they sought inspiration in model homes with drought-tolerant landscaping, captivated by the beauty and simplicity of low-water-use plants. In 2020, they enrolled in the WaterSmart Landscape Makeover classes provided by the San Diego County Water Authority and its member agencies. Additionally, they visited the Water Conservation Garden and joined The Native Plant Garden Tour to explore additional design ideas. In 2023, the Spences received a $2,376 rebate from the SoCal Water$mart Turf Replacement Program. The project included installing water-wise plants and a Hunter Wi-Fi irrigation controller, replacing their sprinklers with a drip system, and applying gorilla hair shredded redwood mulch. Two rain barrels now provide water for potted plants, a decorative fountain, and birdbaths, which attract a variety of local wildlife. One rain barrel captures water for the side yard, while the second barrel is in the lower part of their sloped backyard and connects to the home’s rain gutter by an extended downspout. Their efforts have helped reduce their overall water use by approximately 39%. The winners received a certificate of recognition, a gift certificate to a local nursery of their choice, a yard sign, and other promotional items. To learn more and see photos, visit otaywater. gov/landscape-contest-winner-2025. Winning Student Artwork Spotlights the Value of Water Five student artists have been named the winners of the District’s 2025 “Being Water Wise is…” Student Poster Contest for creatively illustrating the value of water. The annual program invites K-12 grade students attending schools in the District’s service area to participate. Each winner received a gift card, certificate, art kit, and a goody bag. While there were no middle school submissions, winners were selected in the following categories: K-Third Grade• Ethan Q., Second Grade, Olympic ViewElementary, First Place• Jacob I., First Grade, Discovery CharterElementary, Second Place Fourth-Sixth Grade • Mila V., Fifth Grade, Valle Lindo Elementary, First Place • Sophie C., Fifth Grade, Tiffany Elementary, Second Place High School• Zhaoyu Z., Ninth Grade, Otay Ranch HighSchool, First Place Zhaoyu’s poster, featuring an alien character named Adrian taking a short shower with the message “Short Showers Save Water” was also selected as a winner in the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s (MWD) regional student art contest. Adrian is part of a continuing character series that Zhaoyu has been developing over the past two years, showcasing hand-drawn artwork with digital animation. The award-winning poster will be featured in MWD’s 2026 Student Art Calendar. Printed calendars will be available to Otay customers beginning January, while supplies last. Visit the District’s office at 2554 Sweetwater Springs Blvd., Spring Valley. To learn more and view the winning posters, visit otaywater.gov/poster-contest- winners-2025.Zhaoyu Z., Ninth Grade, Otay Ranch High School, First Place Free Workshops at the Water Conservation Garden The County of San Diego’s Watershed Protection Program has partnered with the Water Conservation Garden to offer free workshops on water-wise landscaping. To be notified when these classes and other events are added, sign up for the Garden’s e-newsletter. Visit the garden.org/weekly-classes/ workshops, scroll to the bottom of the page, and enter your information under “Sign up for Updates!” Fats, Oils, and Grease: Toss Before You Wash! With holiday cooking around the corners, the District reminds its customers to avoid pouring fats, oils, and grease (FOG) down the drain. FOG can build up in the pipes, cause blockages. and contribute to the sanitary sewer overflows. FOG damage starts at the kitchen sink. Help protect your home, our sewers, and the environment by properly disposing of FOG. For more information, visit otaywater.gov/fog. Watch Otay’s short video on proper FOG disposal. Visit bit.ly/bye-fog or scan the QR code with your mobile phone. Identify FOG: • FATS: Butter, shortening, margarine, peanut butter, meat trimmings, uncooked poultry skin, cheese, milk, cream, sour cream, and ice cream • OILS: Cooking oils and salad dressings • GREASE: Gravy, mayonnaise, melted meat fat, bacon, sausage, and boiled poultry skin Dispose of FOG properly: • SCRAPE IT: Scrape food waste from plates into the trash. • CONTAIN IT: Pour cooled FOG into old food containers (tin cans or jars). • TRASH IT: Wipe excess FOG from pots and pans before washing. Throw away full, cooled FOG containers. Register for classes and events at thegarden.org or call (619) 660-0614 x16 Conservation Spotlight: Waterscape Rebate Program Unincorporated-area customers — both residential and commercial — can now take advantage of the County of San Diego’s newly expanded Waterscape Rebate Program (WRP). What is new? • Stacked Turf Replacement Assistance –Get personalized help with your project through SoCal Water$mart. • Native Plant Bonus – Earn an extra $1 per square foot on top of existingrebates when you incorporate native plants. • Rain-Saving Rebates – Earn up to $3,000 for rain barrels, cisterns, and rain gardens, and up to $500 for gutters. • Turf Replacement – Now offering $5 per square foot for removing grassnear pavement that is ineligible for SoCal Water$mart turf replacement. For more information and additional WRP incentives, visit otaywater.gov/wrp-rebates. For all other District rebates, visit otaywater.gov/rebates. Defensible Space: Small Steps, Big Protection Help protect your home and community from fire by taking these simple steps: • Clear brush, dead material, and excess vegetation around your property. • Dispose of yard waste properly —never burn it. • Avoid using outdoor equipment that can spark a fire during hot, dry, or windy weather. For a list of fire- resistant plants, defensible space guidelines, and more fire preparedness resources, visit alertsandiego.org, scroll to “Preparedness,” and select the “Wildfire” option. Nan StermanWaterwise Gardener INDOOR OASIS – Green Your Home with Houseplants While the Pothos in your living room, the fiddle leaf fig in the corner, and the Swiss cheese plant in the bedroom may seem modern, the tradition of growing plants indoors dates back more than 2,500 years ago to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Houseplants make us feel good. They add nature to our homes, purify the air, and for some of us, they become a passion akin to hot cars, fancy jewelry, or designer shoes. Few people realize that house plants did not originate in homes. They evolved in shady equatorial rainforests, tropical cloud forests, and sunny subtropical regions – think Central America, Africa, and Asia. Thanks to the conditions in their native habitats, they are adaptable to growing in our homes, offices, restaurants, etc. Indoor growing conditions can be challenging — limited light, little air movement, dry winter heat, cool summer air, pots that are too small, the wrong type of potting soil, overwatering, or underwatering. So, how can you keep your houseplants happy? Always start by doing your homework. Many houseplants thrive best in bright, indirect light from east-facing windows. Set those that thrive in brighter light near, but not up against, windows facing south or west. Give them enough distance to prevent sunburned leaves. Plants that grow unusually long and leggy are searching out the light. Move them to a brighter spot. The right kind of pot is essential. Plants that thrive in wetter conditions do best in plastic or glazed ceramics since they retain water longer. Plants that want good drainage or drier conditions do best in terracotta pots. All pots must have drain holes. Potting mix is not where to pinch pennies. Plants thrive in the best potting mixes and often fail in cheaper potting mixes. Potting mixes contain no actual soil, despite being labeled as “potting soil.” Instead, they are a combination of composted organic matter (peat, bark, sphagnum, etc.) mixed with perlite or pumice for drainage, vermiculite for holding water, and various nutrients. Different potting mixes are formulated for different types of plants, so be sure to match them up. My favorites are made by Black Gold. I like their all-purpose potting mix and orchid mix. Good houseplant for beginners and for everyone else: • Snake plants (Sansevieria) come from Africa. Those sold as houseplants tolerate the dimmest light conditions and need water only once every few months! This is the plant to put on your desk or in a dimly lit corner. Plant in plastic pots using cactus and succulent mix. • African violets prefer indirect bright light, especially an east-facing window. Plant into an all-purpose potting mix in a special African violet self-watering ceramic pot. These pot systems are actually two pots – the outer pot holds water while the inner pot holds the plant. Water from the outer pot diffuses into the inner pot and keeps the potting mix constantly damp. Add African violet food to the water in the outer pot. • Fiddle leaf fig does best in bright light, especially from an east-facing window. Fill a plastic or glazed ceramic pot with all-purpose potting mix. Water regularly to keep it damp. Alternatively, plant into a very large self-watering pot. My fiddle leaf fig thrives in a very large Crescent Garden self-watering pot. I mix general houseplant fertilizer into the water. In a year, my fiddle leaf fig grew from 5 feet tall to nearly 8 feet tall! They can be pruned. • Kentia palm, money tree, spider plant, Hoya, Dracaena, and Monstera thrive in plastic and glazed ceramic pots, all planted in high-quality, all-purpose potting mix. Water regularly to keep it damp. Add general houseplant fertilizer to the watering water. • Orchids grown as houseplants are mostly epiphytes that grow on tree branches and crotches for support in humid tropical forests. Orchid potting mixes are specially formulated with small bark chips to emulate epiphytic conditions. Plant into terracotta pots and place in bright, indirect light, and in a humid spot near a tub, shower, or kitchen sink. Water thoroughly once every week or two, adding orchid food to the water. Make sure to saturate the bark chips. Pest management:Scale, mealy bugs, and aphids are some of the most common houseplant pests. Aphids and mealy bugs are soft-bodied critters that are easy to squish between your fingers and spray off with a sharp spray of water from your kitchen faucet or bathroom shower. Scale scrape away too or shrivel after a gentle touch with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. Keep an eye on leaf crotches and newly unfurling leaves for their young. I use a toothbrush to scrape them out. Pesky fungus gnats can drive you crazy. The tiny flies seem to be everywhere! They live, eat, and lay eggs in the fungus that lives on the surface of damp potting soils. First, avoid fungus gnats by not overwatering. Next, cover the surface of the soil with small, rounded gravel to block the flies’ access to the surface of the potting soil. If the gnats still come around, sprinkle Mosquito Bits over the surface of the potting mix. Now that it is summer, give your houseplants a vacation by putting them outside under a patio cover or a shady tree. Natural predators that live in your garden will feast on any pests that live on your houseplants. They’ll clean them up and keep your plants healthy! Nan Sterman is a garden expert, author, designer, and educator. Nan leads international garden tours, is the author of several books, and hosts the show A Growing Passion on KPBS TV, waterwisegardener.comRead more by Nan Sterman at otaywater.gov/waterwise-gardener FOLLOW OTAY WATER ON... / SIGA AL DISTRITO DE AGUA DE OTAY EN... OTAY WATER DISTRICT – Board of Directors The Board of Directors meets the first Wednesday of the month at 3:30 p.m. in the board meeting room at 2554 Sweetwater Springs Boulevard, Spring Valley, CA 91978. The public is encouraged to attend or watch the live stream at otaywater.gov. PresidentJose Lopez, Division 4jlopez@otaywater.gov Vice PresidentGary Croucher, Division 3gcroucher@otaywater.gov TreasurerFrancisco X. Rivera, Division 1frivera@otaywater.gov Board MemberDelfina Gonzalez, Division 2dgonzalez@otaywater.gov Board MemberMark Robak, Division 5mrobak@otaywater.gov FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OTAY WATER DISTRICT CALL (619) 670-2222 OR GO TO OTAYWATER.GOV The Pipeline Newsletter is published quartely by the Otay Water District and can also be found online at otaywater.gov. Copywright ©2021 Otay Water District. All rights reserved. Jardín WaterSmart construido para la jubilación recibe premio del Distrito El Distrito de Agua de Otay se enorgullece de haber reconocido a Catherine y David Spence, residentes de Chula Vista, como los ganadores del premio “Mejor Jardín del Distrito” del Concurso de Jardines WaterSmart. Ellos transformaron el patio lateral de su casa en un jardín de bajo mantenimiento, adaptado a su estilo de vida dinámico después de la jubilación. Antes de comenzar su proyecto buscaron inspiración en las casas modelo con jardines resistentes a la sequía. Les atrajo la belleza y la simplicidad de las plantas que consumen poca agua. En 2020, se inscribieron en los cursos de Renovación de Jardines WaterSmart impartidos por la San Diego County Water Authority y sus agencias afiliadas. También visitaron el Jardín de Conservación de Agua y participaron en el Tour del Jardín de Plantas Nativas para inspirarse con nuevas ideas de diseño. En 2023, los Spence recibieron un reembolso de $2,376 del Programa de Reemplazo de Césped Water$mart de SoCal. El proyecto incluyó la instalación de plantas de bajo consumo de agua y un controlador de riego Hunter con Wi-Fi, el reemplazo de aspersores por un sistema de goteo y la aplicación de mantillo de secoya triturado con pelo de gorila. Dos barriles de lluvia ahora abastecen de agua a plantas en macetas, una fuente decorativa y bebederos para pájaros atraen a una gran variedad de fauna local. Un barril para recolectar lluvia recoge agua para el patio lateral, mientras que el segundo se encuentra en la parte baja del patio trasero que tiene una inclinación y está conectado a la canaleta de la casa mediante un tubo de desagüe largo. Sus esfuerzos han ayudado a reducir su consumo total de agua en un 39% aproximadamente. Los ganadores recibieron un certificado de reconocimiento, un certificado de regalo de un vivero local de su elección, un letrero para el jardín y otros artículos promocionales. Para obtener más información y ver fotos, por favor visite otaywater.gov/es/landscape- contest-winner-2025. Obras artísticas ganadoras de estudiantes destacan el valor del agua Cinco talentosos estudiantes artistas ganaron el Concurso de Carteles Estudiantiles “Ser sabio con el uso del agua es...” 2025 del Distrito por ilustrar creativamente el valor del agua. El programa anual invita a participar a estudiantes de kínder a 12.º grado de escuelas del área de servicio del Distrito. Cada ganador recibió una tarjeta de regalo, un certificado, un kit de arte y una bolsa de regalos. Si bien no hubo trabajos de secundaria, se seleccionaron ganadores en las siguientes categorías: K-3.er grado • Ethan Q., Segundo grado, Escuela Primaria Olympic View — Primer lugar • Jacob I., Primer grado, Escuela Primaria Discovery Charter — Segundo lugar 4.º- 6.º grado • Mila V., Quinto grado, Escuela Primaria Valle Lindo — Primer lugar • Sophie C., Quinto grado, Escuela Primaria Tiffany — Segundo lugar Preparatoria • Zhaoyu Z., Noveno grado, Escuela Preparatoria Otay Ranch — Primer lugar El póster de Zhaoyu, que presenta a un extraterrestre llamado Adrian dándose una ducha corta con el mensaje “Las duchas cortas ahorran agua”, también fue seleccionado como ganador en el concurso regional de arte estudiantil del Distrito Metropolitano del Agua del Sur de California (MWD, por sus siglas en inglés). Adrian forma parte de una serie continua de personajes que Zhaoyu ha creado en los últimos dos años, presentando trabajos hechos a mano con animación digital. El póster premiado aparecerá en el Calendario de Arte Estudiantil 2026 del MWD. Los calendarios impresos estarán disponibles para los clientes de Otay a partir de enero, hasta agotar existencias, en la oficina del Distrito ubicada en 2554 Sweetwater Springs Blvd., Spring Valley. Para obtener más información y ver los carteles ganadores, por favor visite otaywater. gov/ganadores-concurso-carteles-2025.Zhaoyu Z., Noveno grado, Escuela Preparatoria Otay Ranch — Primer lugar