PRESS RELEASE

Village Life
June 4, 2008

SERRANO AWARDED GRANT FOR WATER CONSERVATION EFFORTS: Community's HOA takes steps in the right direction

The Serrano El Dorado Owners' Association has been awarded a special grant for its implementation of a technologically advanced program to save water within the Serrano community.

The Association's Recycled Water Department has been working on the project for the past year. In April, the Association was presented a check for $67,000 by the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID), administrator of the program with the Regional Water Authority (RWA). The program is funded through the Department of Water Resources (DWA).

The funds have gone directly to the purchase of equipment for Serrano's new Weather-Based Irrigation Control (WBIC) program.

The WBIC system utilizes a commercial-grade weather station that provides weather data every hour to "receivers" that have been installed at Serrano park sites. The receivers utilize this data to determine when irrigation is required based on site conditions (sun exposure, soil type, sprinkler precipitation rate, etc.).

The receivers are coupled to new state-of-the-art irrigation controllers with built-in remote controls to make trouble-shooting of broken sprinkler heads and other "water-wasters" an easier process for the Association's maintenance contractors and irrigation technicians.

The benefits of WBIC also include reduction of over-watering and run-off to streams and waterways; increased health and durability of the community's landscape; reduced maintenance due to more reliable and technologically advanced equipment; and monetary savings resulting from reduced consumption.

The WBIC system is now being used in Serrano's community parks, as well as a number of homes that have had long-standing concerns related to over-watering.

The Serrano El Dorado Owners' Association is responsible for the landscape maintenance of the majority of residential front yards in Serrano, as well as 10 parks, 19 gated entrances and miles of streetscapes.

"The Association has made it a major goal to help our homeowners save energy and resources," said John Bowman, Association General Manager. "Although the WBIC system is still in the early stages of implementation, this small step will lead to great strides in water conservation for the future."

For more information call 916-939-1728 or visit www.serranohoa.org.