Water World: An irrigation transformation

LOCATION: Huntington Beach, Calif.

COMPANY: Harvest Landscape Enterprises

At a homeowners association built in the 1950s, Harvest Landscape Enterprises worked with property owners to retrofit the outdated irrigation system with new equipment. The total project spans about 141 acres and about 1,120 valves.

As part of the project, Harvest also replaced the existing landscaping and turf with drought-tolerant plantings suitable for Southern California.

“From this project, we have saved so much water and implemented new technology into the association where now it’s coming up to state-level standards,” says Max Moreno, vice president of water conservation for Harvest Landscape Enterprises.

As Harvest upgraded the system, Moreno says the company kept foundational pieces of the system, including the main lines and laterals. Moreno says the system’s original design watered turf and planters at the same time, so crews rerouted some pipes and designated one valve for turf and one valve for planters in each section.

Harvest Landscape Enterprises uses Rain Bird drip tubing in landscape beds to ensure water gets directly to the landscaping when needed. Harvest also upgraded the system controllers to HydroPoint’s WeatherTRAK OptiFlow XR controllers. Moreno says the new system allows the Harvest team to separate the water needs of each segment: turf, planters, etc. Currently, Harvest has installed nine controllers with a plan for 48 total on the property.

(Photo: Harvest Landscape Enterprises)

Drip irrigation is a key component of system upgrades to ensure plants have the right amount of water.

(Photo: Harvest Landscape Enterprises)

Harvest Landscape Enterprises worked with property owners to update an aging irrigation system and add more drought-tolerant plantings.

(Photo: Harvest Landscape Enterprises)

Updates to the system included designating valves for turf and planters in each section to maximize water applied and cut down on overall water use.

Projects wanted

Did your company recently complete a noteworthy irrigation project? Do you have photos? We want to hear about it! Email Editor Christina Herrick at cherrick@northcoastmedia.net to have your company’s irrigation project featured in our Water World section.