Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Where's Wally?

Wally's visit to the Demonstration Garden!


Wally’s becoming a real fan of the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park!  This morning during his weekly walk, he stumbled upon the Demonstration Garden.  This Demonstration Garden is used for IEUA’s Garden In Every School® Program, which teaches students about water conservation and sustainable agriculture by providing grants to schools to create a water-wise garden.

The Demonstration Garden shows different types of gardens that feature low water-use plants, butterfly gardens, California native plants, and even vegetable gardens.  Most importantly, this Demonstration Garden shows that a beautiful garden is possible, even while using efficient irrigation techniques.  With this newest discovery in mind, Wally is now inspired to create a water-wise garden of his own!

If you’d like to learn more about the Demonstration Garden or the Garden In Every School® Program, visit: 

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Where's Wally?

Wally's porous concrete discovery!


Today, after Wally's weekly walk through the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park, he decided to leave the Park a different way.  This time, as he was walking out of the Park, he stepped onto the IEUA Headquarters parking lot and noticed the concrete looked different.  After doing a little research, Wally learned that IEUA used many different green techniques when building their headquarters and were the first public agency in the nation to receive the Platinum rating from the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in 2003.  

Among these green techniques, IEUA used porous concrete in their parking lot, instead of normal concrete.  Porous concrete prevents runoff by absorbing water, so rainwater seeps down into the soil underneath and does not flow into the street.  Wally learned that this technique is another great way to save water for our future. 

To learn more about IEUA's LEED Headquarters Building, visit:

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Where's Wally?

Wally's walk through the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park!



Wally walked through the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park this morning and noticed these recycled water signs.  From his research, he learned that the Park receives some recycled water from RP-5, IEUA’s wastewater treatment plant next door.  RP-5 receives over 15 million gallons of wastewater per day from the cities of Chino, Chino Hills and a portion of Ontario, which is then treated to make recycled water. 

Recycled water is one of the most important strategies used to conserve water.  It can be used for agriculture, municipal irrigation, industrial uses, and groundwater replenishment.  This means that we can save more of our precious potable, drinking water for domestic purposes, like drinking and bathing.

Learn more about the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park, RP-5, and recycled water at:
 www.ieua.org

*The Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park is partially funded by a grant from the State Water Resources Control Board.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Eagle Canyon Garden Hosts Garden Dedication

Eagle Canyon Elementary Hosts a Garden Dedication! 

On Friday, April 22nd, in coordination with Earth day, Chino Valley Unified School District's Eagle Canyon Elementary School hosted a garden dedication to celebrate the completion of their water-wise school garden.  

Each year, schools are able to submit a garden grant application, which provides their school with a $4,500 grant to go towards the installation of a water-wise garden. Last year, Eagle Canyon submitted an application and after reviewing their grant application and garden design, they were chosen to receive this water-wise garden grant that educates students and the community on the importance of efficient water use.

Along with a serpentine to the garden, ribbon cutting, butterfly and lady bug release, students from each grade level did a presentation at the garden dedication. 

Mrs. McGuire's first grade class singing the Vegetable Song.

Mrs. Corsaro's kindergarten class reciting the Earthworm Poem 
and released earthworms into the garden. 


Eagle Canyon Elementary's garden features six planter boxes designated to each grade level growing varieties of vegetables such as pumpkins and radishes. Citrus trees and California Native plants were planted around the perimeter of the garden. 

Mr. Sergio Robleto, a teacher at Ayala High School painted the beautiful mural pictured above. Students submitted their ideas for the mural and Mr. Robleto stenciled the design for students to get involved by doing a paint by numbers. 

On behalf of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency Board of Directors and the city of Chino Hills, Congratulations to Eagle Canyon Elementary for a job well done and for bringing an inspiring outdoor classroom to life! Happy gardening! 


Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Where's Wally?

Wally's visit to the Pipe Garden!


During Wally’s weekly walk through IEUA's Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park, he stumbled across the Pipe Garden.  The Pipe Garden demonstrates how to use water wisely inside and outside the home.  The various signs share how much water you can save by following some water-saving tips, which can come in handy during this drought.

For example, Wally learned that you can save 22.5 gallons if you take a five minute shower with a low-flow showerhead, versus taking a five minute shower without a low-flow showerhead.  Also, you can save 10.3 gallons of water if you run a fully loaded dishwasher instead of hand washing the dishes.  With this knowledge in mind, Wally can do his part to save water during this historic drought.

Learn more about the Pipe Garden and the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park at: 
www.ieua.org

*The Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park is partially funded by a grant from the State Water Resources Control Board.