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: 

www.ieua.org

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:

www.ieua.org

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.

Eagle Canyon Garden Hosts Garden Dedication

Eagle Canyon Elementary Hosts a Garden Dedication! 

On Friday, April 22^nd, 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! 

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. 

FREE Earth Day Celebration!

FREE Earth Day Celebration!

With Earth Day coming up on April 22^nd, many water agencies are holding FREE Earth Day events to celebrate the holiday and educate the public on what they can do to help protect our natural resources, including water.

Cucamonga Valley Water District was the first agency to celebrate Earth Day with their event this past Saturday, April 2^nd.

Many vendors and agencies, including IEUA, were among the list of attendees for the Earth-saving event.

Vendors passed out giveaways and sold items, including organic food, drought friendly plants, fertilizer, and tips on how to conserve water.

Along with Cucamonga Valley Water District, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) will be having a FREE Earth Day Celebration on Thursday, April 21^st to celebrate this holiday.

The Earth Day Celebration will feature environmental shows, exhibits, Earth-friendly activities and the Grilled Cheese Food Truck.

IEUA will also be giving away compost and other Earth-friendly giveaways!

Bring friends and family and enjoy some Earth-friendly fun at:

 IEUA’s Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park!

Thursday, April 21^st, 2016

4:00 – 7:00 p.m.

6075 Kimball Avenue

Chino, CA 91708

And did we mention it’s FREE!!!  

See you there!

Cypress Elementary Hosts a Garden Dedication!

Cypress Elementary Hosts a Garden Dedication!

This past Thursday, February 25^th, Fontana Unified School District’s Cypress Elementary School hosted a garden dedication to celebrate the completion of their water-wise school garden.



Cypress Elementary Assistant Principal Mr. Adam Anderson speaks in front of students and parents.

The garden was constructed as part of IEUA’s water-wise Garden In Every School® Program, which is an assisted grant to install a water-wise garden on campus that educates students on the importance of efficient water usage.

On behalf of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency Board of Directors and the Fontana Water Company, Katie Plank and Patrick Soto, presented Principal Dr. Rosario Gomez and Assistant Principal Mr. Adam Anderson a certificate of completion at the dedication ceremony.

From Left to right: Patrick Soto (Fontana Water Company), Katie Plank (IEUA), Principal Dr. Rosario Gomez, and Assistant Principal Mr. Adam Anderson.

The Cypress Elementary garden features six planter boxes growing plants such as parsley and succulents. The planter box for the 2^nd graders even features a turtle!

 

Congratulations to Cypress Elementary for a job well done and for bringing and an outdoor classroom to life!

We hope your garden will continue to flourish and inspire water use efficiency!