World Water Day March 22nd!

World Water Day OFG Challenge!

Decrease water use in your garden and create awareness in your neighborhood by doing one or more of the following:

1) Change regular sprinkler emitters to Hunter MP Rotators:  Each emitter only costs around $5 and is 40% more efficient than regular spray emitters.  Available at your local irrigation supply or Home Depot.

2) Remove unnecessary lawn:   Replacing water thirsty turf in your front garden or parking strip with drought tolerant and native plantings can reduce your water use by 70% or more and eliminates the need for water polluting fertilizers and other chemicals.

3) Replace one or more downspouts with a rain chain and rain barrel:  1" of rain can generate several hundred gallons of water coming off of your roof, save that water and re-use it in your garden at a later time!

4) Mulch your planting beds:  Mulching your plants with a shredded mulch helps to soak up rain, prevents plants from drying out as fast, and helps improve soil condition by allowing it to take in more water.

5) Build a dry stream:  creating dips and swales in your garden that allow water to sit and soak in reduce the amount of water pollution generated during rain storms and save water use in the landscape by creating a "water bank" in your garden's soil.

6) Tell a neighbor about the OFG program and how simple changes can make a huge difference in preventing water waste and pollution.

Visit our World Water Day site for more tips and information!

World Water Day Events

Since the major driving influence behind the OFG campaign is water conservation (which in turn leads to less polluted runoff running into our oceans) we wanted to share with you some of the upcoming events related to World Water Day (03.22.10)

• Saturday the 20th the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation will host their 4th annual WWD Festival which will include native plant giveaways and a garden tour, Wetlands and Watersheds models, and other water and waterconservation related exhibits. The Festival runs from 10am-4pm at the Lagoon Discovery Center in Carlsbad.Check here for more info: http://www.aguahedionda.org
• Monday the 22nd (World Water Day!) Surfrider's new short film THE CYCLE OF INSANITY will premiere at The Loft at UCSD. The premise of the film is that the water cycle we all learned about in the 4th grade has been dramatically altered over time, leaving us with a broken system that wastes water and energy, pollutes our natural waterways, harms critical marine life, and poorly deals with flooding and other water management problems. There will be three showings (4pm, 6pm, and 7:30 pm) and you are encouraged to attend any or all three! For more info and directions go to: http://www.surfridersd.org/water.php